Loving Delilah
by MySuperAwesomePenName
Summary: Loving Delilah is easy. Getting her to love you back has proven extremely difficult. The Cullens adopt a little girl.
1. Prologue

It was hard for Carlisle Cullen to imagine a time when they hadn't all loved Delilah, himself especially.

She was the sweetest creature he had ever met. She was very nearly perfect.

She was angelic in appearance, with strawberry blond hair that grew like the grass and curled wispily. Her wide, bright blue eyes were hypnotizing; they could make you do anything they wanted. Her heart shaped face was always lined with curiosity, her cherry lips pursed in concentration of whatever she was doing, thin strawberry blond eyebrows furrowed in thought.

He had heard people say that she fit right in with the beautiful Cullen family, that it was strange how they were all adopted and yet looked so perfect in face and body.

Yes, it was true that Delilah was a beautiful little girl, but Carlisle, and the rest of the Cullen family, knew that there hadn't always been a time when she would smile that breathtaking smile of hers so easily. There had been a time when she had been quite a skittish child.

He didn't like to think about the night he had found her, but he was grateful all the same; if he hadn't discovered her tiny broken form next to the road, bruised, bleeding and unconscious, they wouldn't have ever known her; she would have died.

But looking back in retrospect, maybe that would have saved her. After all, no one could have predicted that this would happen, not even Alice.

And it was all his fault.


	2. By the Side of the Road

The memory of the day he'd found her rang clear in his mind.

He had been on his way home from the hospital he worked at after an incredibly busy nightshift, absentmindedly listening to the news on the morning radio, when he had spotted something lying beside the road ahead of him. Upon realizing that it was a human being, he had stopped the car and was next to it in a second.

It turned out to be a little girl that looked no older than two, laying limp in the dirty snow on the shoulder of the road, covered in blood from a wound he couldn't pinpoint right away. With almost no deliberation, he made a split second decision; he was closer to the house than the hospital, and he had extra supplies in his office.

Being extremely mindful of her injuries, and not thinking twice about what he was doing, he scooped her up in his arms, wincing when she unconsciously tried to shift away from the cold hardness that was his body. He hurriedly laid her in the backseat of his car, looking over his shoulder at her the whole way home, making sure she didn't roll off the seat.

When he got home, he carefully lifted her off of the seat and carried her up to the house, opening the door with one hand and cradling the girl in the other. He had not thought to call, relying instead on Alice's vision to warn his family to stay away from the house. Therefore, he was incredibly shocked to find several pairs of thirsty eyes trained instantly on the bloody little girl in his arms.

Jasper immediately lunged forward, a crazed look in his eyes, but he was restrained by Edward and Emmett, who were a little more in control, though not by much. When they had successfully dragged the thirsty vampire out of the house, Carlisle hurried up to his office, shielding the little girl from his wife, Alice, and Rosalie, his mind working a hundred miles an hour.

Why hadn't Alice warned them that he would be returning home with an injured little girl? Was it possible that she hadn't had a vision about it? The idea was absurd; Alice had never not had a vision before, especially when it concerned something of such importance.

He heard the others all leaving as quickly as possible, probably to go hunting, and he gently laid the girl on his desk while he prepared a spare hospital cot that he kept at home for emergencies. He was working as quickly as he could; a human would have looked at him and seen just a blur of motion. He set to cleaning all the blood that he could off of her body so that he could see where she was bleeding from, and discovered that she had a gash a least an inch wide in length on her forehead. He cleaned and dressed the wound quickly, knowing all the while that she would need stitches, but that could wait until he at least got her warm and assessed her overall condition.

He found a broken arm and a sprained ankle, among several bruises, some yellowed with age, and some a newer, violent shade of purple. Moving a metal dog tag necklace away from her neck, he found twin bruises in the shape of hands, and he felt his heart go out to the little one. He set her arm and ankle as quickly as he could and wrapped her in a blanket, then set to work stitching up her forehead. When he was finished, he cleaned more blood and dirt off of her, easily ignoring the scent of her blood.

He didn't want to move her to another room, wary that when his family came back, one of them might lose control and attack her, so he left her on the cot. He had known already that she had hypothermia, that she might not be alive much longer. He would have to monitor her carefully while she slept.

After cleaning up whatever blood was still on his hands and desk, he sat back in his chair, listening to her weak heartbeat and ragged, shallow breathing.

* * *

><p>Several hours later, sometime around noon, he heard the front door open and close quietly, and someone ascended the stairs leading to the second floor, and by extension, his office. He stood, maneuvering himself in front of the still slumbering toddler, effectively hiding her from view. A moment later, there came a knock at his door, and Rosalie poked her head in, holding her breath. Carlisle looked at her warily.<p>

"Don't worry, Carlisle, I'm in control- I won't hurt her. I just want to look at her for a moment."

Carlisle reluctantly moved aside, allowing her to get a good look at the girl asleep on the cot.

"Where are the others?" he asked her finally, knowing that she had a soft spot for children, and worrying that the sight of a baby, especially one so weak and fighting for life, would bring up painful memories.

"Everyone is out hunting. They'll probably be back in a few days, but Alice and Jasper will be staying with the Denali coven for a while. Where did you find her?" she breathed, unable to tear her eyes away from the child.

"I came across her on the way home from work. She was laying on the side of the road," he replied carefully, watching her closely.

"Someone just dumped her there, and in this condition? How could anyone be so cruel? She's practically an infant!" He could see the cold fury rushing through her, and he stepped forward to put a steady hand on her shoulder.

"Rosalie," he said gently.

She visibly made an effort to calm herself, and then her eyes were once more trained on the little one.

"Do you know who she is?"

"No. The only thing I have that might identify her is the tag around her neck, and I haven't had the chance to look at it yet."

He watched warily as Rosalie slowly walked over to the girl, holding her breath as she got closer and taking the necklace delicately in her hand. He saw her face tighten when she spotted the marks on the child's neck. She fought to stay calm as she turned the tag over, reading the words there.

"Delilah Josephine… The last name's been scratched out."

She showed it to him. The beautiful engraving of the child's name looked like someone had taken something small and sharp and had scratched at it until it was no longer decipherable.

"Why would someone just scratch it out like that?"

"I don't have a clue," he admitted. "But tomorrow I'll look up the other names and see if I can't find something. Will you be returning to the Denali coven?"

"If it's okay, I'd like to stay here."

Carlisle gave her a worried look. "Are you certain you can handle it?" He gestured to the toddler's forehead, where there was still a little blood around the stitches, and to the blood soaked towels in the corner.

Rosalie seemed unsure for a moment, but then she nodded as if suddenly coming to a decision.

"Yes, I'm sure."

He smiled reassuringly at her.

"Then it seems all that's left to do is wait."


	3. Waking Up

It was around 8:00 PM when the little girl, Delilah, finally woke. Esme had come home a few hours before, and had sat with them, waiting patiently for the child to rouse. At first Carlisle had been concerned about his wife's self control, but as it turned out, her caring nature overrode any thirst that came over her. So the trio had sat in complete silence, until they heard the beginnings of a cry from Delilah, who was finally stirring.

Carlisle stood, careful not to move too fast, and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. But Delilah took one look at him and burst out crying, shying away from his touch. Her sobs soon turned into wheezes as she fought to breathe, and Esme came over to her bedside, cooing to her.

"There, there, little one. It'll all be okay."

Something about the motherly woman's voice seemed to calm her a bit, and Delilah let Esme stroke her head. Rosalie sat in Carlisle's chair and watched, wanting to comfort the toddler, but guessing that she needed room to breathe.

Several minutes later, Delilah had finally calmed down enough to notice the makeshift casts on her arm and ankle, and feel the stitches on her head, which brought on another round of whimpering sobs. This time though, she let Esme sit beside her on the bed and hold her hand.

After a good long while, she let Carlisle come over to her bedside so that he could check that everything was alright. Her stitches turned out to be holding just fine, but there seemed to be some scar tissue in her lungs; he knew just by hearing her breathe. He made a mental note to get more supplies soon so that he could take care of her properly. There was really nothing he could do for her bruises, so he left them as they were.

Esme, noticing the grimy filth that still covered the poor child's body, suggested a bath. "It can't be healthy for a child to be so dirty," she reasoned. She squeezed Delilah's hand softly.

"Would you like to have a bath, sweetheart?"

Delilah hesitantly nodded, and allowed Esme to carry her to the bathroom. But when Esme tried to follow her in, she held out her hand in a stop motion, a grim sort of look on her face, silently indicating that she could do it herself.

"Are you sure, darling?"

She nodded yes, and Esme hesitated, wondering if the small child would be okay by herself, but finally came to a decision. "Okay, but can I at least wrap your casts in plastic first? We don't want them getting wet, that would be very bad," she reasoned, not knowing if Delilah even understood half of what she was saying. But the little girl looked down at her casts, showing that she did understand, before slowly nodding at the woman.

Five minutes later, with her casts wrapped in some plastic, Delilah waited until Esme was out of the bathroom before undressing and getting into the warm bath Esme had prepared for her.

Carlisle and Rosalie busied themselves with acquiring a real bed for Delilah, placing it in Carlisle and Esme's room, where she would be sleeping for the time being.

Meanwhile, Emse stood outside the bathroom door, waiting for Delilah to be finished, wondering what the girl could wear. She supposed the poor thing would just have to wear her dirty clothes until they could buy her some new ones.

When the door was cracked open and a little head popped out, curious blue eyes peeking out at her, Esme stepped forward, ready to help the child into her clothes. But just as quickly as it had been opened, the door was slammed shut in her face.

Delilah came out a good ten minutes later, obviously having had trouble putting her shirt on right, since it was on backwards, and leaving behind her a trail of water and a couple of fluffy white towels, now streaked with dirt, that she had found on the counter. Esme tried very hard not to laugh, as she didn't think Delilah, whose face was set in a dead serious look, would appreciate it. After a few minutes of reasoning, the child allowed her to help her into her shirt correctly. Then Esme picked her up, noticing that she tensed at the initial touch, and held her, carrying her downstairs to the kitchen.

"Are you hungry?" Esme questioned dotingly, and Delilah nodded silently, relaxing the slightest bit.

Esme sat her on the kitchen counter. "Well, let's see what we have," she suggested cheerfully, looking into several empty cupboards before she realized that they had no human food.

"Rosalie, dear," she called. "Would you mind going to the store to pick up some food?"

Rosalie purposefully made a lot of noise coming down the stairs, as she didn't want to scare Delilah by approaching silently, and smiled at Esme and the little girl, who was admittedly much more adorable now that she was not streaked with dirt.

"Sure," she said. She headed out, only walking slowly until she reached the door; then she made use of her vampire speed, coming back less than ten minutes later with two grocery bags on each arm. She sat the bags on the counter top beside Delilah, excitedly showing Esme what she had bought.

"I didn't know what she liked, so I got a little bit of everything," she admitted.

"Well, don't worry; I'm sure we'll find something she likes to eat."

For a while, the two experimented with different foods, none of which Delilah seemed to like. After the girl had stuck her nose up at some vegetable soup, Rosalie and Esme were about ready to give up, but they were finally successful when Delilah had opened her mouth for a purple grape, reaching her small hands out for more before she had even chewed the whole thing.

Carlisle came downstairs a couple of minutes later, smiling at Delilah, who had Rosalie feeding her grapes by the handful.

"It's all she would eat," Esme explained.

"That's perfectly fine," Carlisle told her. "She probably shouldn't be eating a whole lot of heavy foods any time soon, anyway.

"I've just called Alice. She said Edward and Emmett have decided that they're coming back sometime tomorrow. She and Jasper will be staying with the Denali coven for a while, until she can convince him to come back."

Esme nodded, smiling sadly at the news that Alice and Jasper wouldn't be coming home. Carlisle, getting an especially soft look in his eye, stepped forward and took her in his arms, kissing her forehead. He knew she didn't like to have her children anywhere else but within her sight.

Rosalie watched as Delilah momentarily stopped chewing on a grape, and stared at Carlisle and Esme, her wide eyes taking them in solemnly.

Then she turned away, and held out her hand for another grape.

* * *

> <p><p>

Edward and Emmett returned later that evening, and upon first catching sight of the latter, Delilah's initial reaction was quite understandable.

She screamed, very loudly.

Emmett immediately backed up a few feet, trying to shrink himself as much as possible, and Esme picked up the child delicately, whispering in her ear.

"There, there, darling. That's just Emmett, he's as harmless as a fly. He's just like a teddy bear."

Emmett smiled hesitantly at her, sitting on the sofa slowly and thus making himself appear smaller.

Delilah calmed gradually, relaxing in Esme's arms and allowing Rosalie to smooth back her hair. Edward had been still the whole time, standing by the doorway and staring at the toddler with a strange look on his face.

When Delilah had caught sight of Emmett, she had immediately thought of a large man who the huge vampire had apparently reminded her of. Edward had been disturbed at the scenes that had flashed through her mind then. Memories of big hands wrapped around her arms, wrists, neck. He had seen the fists through her eyes, coming towards her and smacking, punching, hitting. There were other people, too, scornful people who called her a dirty freak.

But when Esme had held her, Delilah's thoughts had taken an abrupt turn, conjuring a woman who had held her much the same way, who had whispered loving things into her ear, and Edward guessed that this had been her mother.

He saw Carlisle out of the corner of his eye, watching his mind-reading son warily. He knew that Edward had seen something unsettling in Delilah's thoughts.

_We need to talk_, he thought to him, and Edward nodded, slipping out of the family room and up the stairs leading to Carlisle's study, said doctor following close behind.


	4. Decisions

"What did you hear?" Carlisle asked him warily.

Edward leaned against Carlisle's desk, frowning. "Nothing good," he said grimly. "You should have seen her memories, Carlisle."

Carlisle nodded solemnly, sitting in his chair and putting his head in his hands. He sighed.

"I've searched the medical records in the hospital's system countless times. No 'Delilah Josephine' is listed at all. If she _has_ lived in Alaska all this time, she's never been to a hospital before."

"The people she lived with before didn't seem the type to take a sick child to the hospital."

Carlisle shook his head, frustrated. "I couldn't find anything - no shot records, no medical history, not even a birth certificate. It's like she doesn't exist, according to the system, anyway."

Edward's brows furrowed in thought, the thoughts of Carlisle, and everyone downstairs. All of the pictures and fragments and opinions whirred through his mind at a speed that was not humanly possible. It was a good thing, then, that he wasn't human; the same rules didn't apply to him.

He knew that Alice had been surprised when she had first seen the blood-covered child in Carlisle's arms. She had not had a vision about her.

Did that mean that Delilah was somehow immune to Alice's talent? He couldn't begin to understand; there were so many questions when it came to Delilah, and it seemed no one had any answers, least of all him.

He momentarily focused in on the thoughts of his family downstairs. He knew that Rosalie had already become attached to the girl; she would not take kindly to the thought of them taking Delilah away from her. And it seemed that Esme had taken a liking to the child, too, remembering the son she'd lost when she was human and wondering if the girl was a second chance. Even Emmett had started to develop a warm attitude towards her.

He knew that Carlisle liked the girl too, but he didn't know if the man would be willing to separate their family so completely like this. After all, if the girl stayed, there was a good chance that Alice and Jasper wouldn't be returning for quite some time. Besides, what if one of the rest of them lost control and attacked her? That would tear the family apart. Was Carlisle really ready to deal with the repercussions that keeping her could bring about?

Then again, would any of them really allow the tiny little thing to be thrown into the lion's den that was a modern orphanage? He knew of the sort of things that went on in some of the orphanages in the area. He knew that minuscule little Delilah, who was deathly skinny and barely looked like she weighed more than thirty pounds, would not make it in that environment, that she would wilt in the face of such cold harshness.

And he knew in that moment that he would not let her end up in a place like that.

His decision made, he began to speak in earnest with Carlisle.

* * *

><p>Down in the family room, Rosalie sat with Delilah in her lap, listening to the conversation upstairs. She knew by the way Edward was reasoning with Carlisle that he wanted the girl to stay with them, and she crossed her fingers, hoping that Carlisle would say yes, or that he would at least take a family vote. She knew that Delilah would have hers and Edward's votes, and that Emmett would vote yes, too, because he knew it would make Rosalie happy. Esme obviously cared for the little girl, so her vote would be yes, too.<p>

She absentmindedly gave Delilah another grape, and as she heard Carlisle consent, albeit reluctantly, a huge smile broke out onto her face. She understood why Carlisle was worried, but they would all be careful; she would never, in her existence, intentionally harm Delilah, even if she did have sweet smelling blood. Alice and Jasper would stay away for a long time, but what was twenty years to a vampire? They were immortal- it would just feel like a couple of days to them.

She heard Carlisle and Edward descending the stairs silently, and felt Delilah shift in her arms as the little girl turned to look at the two before they were even down the stairs. Rosalie frowned for a moment. This girl sure had good hearing, for a human. She shrugged it off, though, as Carlisle and Edward came into her line of sight.

There was silence as they all considered the consequences of keeping Delilah, and the consequences of sending her away. Finally, when it seemed like no one had anything to say against keeping Delilah, Carlisle smiled gently. "Then I guess we have some things to buy, a new package of grapes being one of them."

Emmett leaped up at a carefully human speed, declaring, "I'll go get some!" in his endearingly enthusiastic way. Carlisle nodded.

After fifteen minutes, Emmett was back, not just with grapes, but with grape juice, grape flavored fruit snacks, and some raisins.

"I decided I'd put some variety in her diet," he explained jokingly.

Five minutes later, with a box of raisins in her small hands, Delilah sat on the couch in between Rosalie and Esme, munching happily.

Carlisle had decided that they would ask her a series of questions, and Edward had agreed to answer for her.

Carlisle began. "Delilah, how old are you?"

Delilah glanced up at the doctor, and Edward answered, "She's four."

"Alright," said Carlisle. "What's your last name?"

Edward looked perplexed for a moment. "She doesn't remember. Do you think it's possible that she has amnesia?"

"It's possible," Carlisle agreed. "Are grapes your favorite food, Delilah?"

This time, Edward didn't have to answer for her; she immediately nodded her head yes.

Carlisle suppressed a smile. He had known that particular question would earn a response from her.


	5. Hating Delilah

It had been two years before Alice and Jasper had returned.

Delilah had been living with the Cullens, who had all completely fallen in love with her. She seemed to have forgotten everything about her life before the Cullens had taken her in, occasionally having nightmares, but otherwise blissfully ignorant.

She was a little more talkative, sometimes asking for things she wanted, and she no longer flinched when one of the Cullens touched her. But she rarely smiled, and even when she did, it couldn't be classified as a real smile; it was just a mere twitch of the lips.

The real joy was in her eyes. Such descriptive eyes they were, a link between her body and her soul. She quickly found that she could make any one of the Cullens do anything she pleased, just by staring them in the eyes. Sometimes she used this to her advantage, and the Cullens knew it, but none of them particularly cared, especially Rosalie, who took joy in spoiling her rotten.

She dressed Delilah every day, in pretty dresses and ribbons and pearls, except on the days when Emmett got to her first; on those days she wore jean overalls and baseball caps and red sneakers. She never seemed to object to either outfit choices, so it was left to Rosalie and Emmett to bicker good naturedly over which one she would wear.

That day Rosalie had won, and Delilah came out of her bedroom wearing a light blue dress and a white button up cardigan. Her neck was adorned with a single string of pearls, and she wore a pair of white Mary Jane shoes on her feet. There was a white silk bow in her hair, held in by a shiny white clip.

The overall effect was darling, especially since, at six years old, she still looked like she was only about three. This factor was one Carlisle Cullen often worried over. Was it just that she was premature? If so, wouldn't she still have grown a little more than she had in two years?

Her speech pattern had developed very slowly, too. Just that morning, when Rosalie had been picking out her clothes for the day, she had held up the dress, showing it to her.

_"See, Delilah? You'll look so pretty."_

_"Pitty,"_ Delilah had repeated.

But according to Edward, despite physical appearance, Delilah was extremely smart for her age. She could already read very well, and she knew some math; he was even considering teaching her to play the piano.

She really should have been in school, but there weren't many elementary schools in the area. So Carlisle, not wanting to let her mind go to waste, had announced earlier that month that he would personally begin tutoring her in all the basics. He was planning on working all nightshifts so that he could be there during the day to teach her.

Carlisle smiled from where he was standing by the kitchen counter, watching as Delilah made her way over to Emmett, who was sitting on the couch watching TV. When she finally reached the large sofa, she tried several times to get up onto it, failing at that but succeeding very well in wrinkling her dress.

Finally Emmett, who had been pretending not to see her so she could attempt to do it herself, lifted her up easily and stuck her on the cushion beside him, and she pouted at him for a moment.

Delilah, despite her small stature and general helplessness, was ridiculously independent; she didn't like it when people carried her around and lifted her up, and now that she was more comfortable with the Cullen family, she made her independence known by trying to do everything herself. This had proved to be quite a problem, especially when she'd tried to pour her own grape juice; the dark purple liquid had spilled all over the white carpet underneath the dining table, resulting in a very large stain and one tearful little girl.

Carlisle speculated that maybe her need to do everything herself stemmed from the way she'd been treated in the first few years of her life, before Carlisle had discovered her on the side of the road and the Cullens had taken her in.

From what Edward had seen in her mind those first few months before she'd completely forgotten her former home, her guardians had been cruel; it seemed it wouldn't be a wholly untrue accusation to say that they had probably made the girl do everything herself. Just looking at her was proof plenty that she had been neglected at one point.

Though she was a lot less skinny now, she was still very thin. Rosalie had discovered a cigarette burn in between her fingers, as if someone had shoved it there and held it, and she also had large amounts of scar tissue in her lungs from, it looked like, several bouts of pneumonia. She was ill often, and if she ate a big meal of anything with more substance than grapes, she was violently sick. It infuriated Rosalie when she heard the poor thing puking her guts out in the bathroom because she had eaten something filling for a change.

Overall, Delilah was not a very healthy child, though her condition was now steadily improving because of all the measures that Carlisle went to in order to ensure that she would not suffer a life in which she was always sick.

Carlisle stared at Delilah, sitting cross-legged on the sofa next to Emmett and watching a football game, and worried about what the future would hold for her.

All of a sudden, his ears picked up on a sound about two miles away. It sounded like a footfall, but too soft for a human to have made. A vampire? He wondered if the Denali clan had decided to pay them a visit, but a moment later, during which he heard the tinkling sound of a bell-like laugh on the wind, he knew that it was Alice. He glanced at Edward, who had suddenly appeared in the doorway, and Edward nodded, reading his thoughts.

Esme stood by the door, waiting anxiously for her to arrive, longing to pull her adopted daughter into her arms, but not wanting to smother her. A moment later, Alice was pulling open the door and letting Esme hug her tightly.

She smiled when she saw Delilah over Esme's shoulder, watching with confused eyes, leaning on the still sitting Emmett.

Alice glanced back over her shoulder. "It's alright," she said softly. "You know you won't hurt her." And from out of the woods stepped Jasper Hale.

He stared at Delilah for a moment.

Then he relaxed, focusing on her emotions instead of the enticing scent of her blood. She was confused, and also afraid at the prospect of new people in her home. He sensed an almost animal fear, the feeling of being trapped somewhere and suffocating.

He offered a small, tentative smile, unconsciously sending her strong waves of calm.

She relaxed, sitting up straight, no longer leaning on Emmett, and wriggled until her feet touched the hardwood floor. The whole family watched with wary eyes as she slid down onto the floor and stood up slowly, taking a few steps toward Jasper.

He backed up slightly, afraid that he would lose control of himself and attack her, but she kept at him, moving forward until she was less than a foot away from him.

Seven vampires watched with shocked expressions as she lifted her arms out to him, silently asking to be picked up.

Jasper, alarmed and not knowing what to do, hesitantly took her under the arms and lifted her up, holding her away from his body slightly and holding his breath. But Delilah was not satisfied, hands out still, stretching, reaching for him.

Carlisle stepped nearer with a worried expression, Rosalie right on his heels. But Edward held up a hand, staring at Jasper and Delilah with a strange expression on his face.

Jasper slowly brought the girl closer and held her more firmly. Delilah sighed almost happily, laying her head on his shoulder, her curls tickling his neck, and bringing her tiny hand up to play with the ends of his hair. Jasper stiffened momentarily but relaxed as he realized that the craving for her blood had slowly begun to fade, receding until it was just a small, nagging voice in the back of his mind.

He held the little girl closer, delighting in the freedom of being under control for once. He was always hungry for human blood; he could feed on animal blood 'til he was full, but that terrible aching hunger was still there, twisting his insides, burning his throat and coming back with a forceful vengeance just when he thought he had it under wraps. The feeling of not being hungry made him ecstatic.

He spied Alice smiling at them from the corner of his eye, nodding her head slowly with a knowing look in her eyes, and he wondered if she had foreseen this happening. But he didn't know how; something about Delilah had made Alice's powers go spotty, there sometimes and sometimes gone, like a bad radio transmission.

Turning his attention back to the strawberry blonde residing in his arms, he gazed down at Delilah, sensing nothing but comfort coming from her, a sense of security, and he marveled at the fact that she was already so comfortable around him. Was it just because he'd used his talent to calm her? Whatever the reason, she seemed not to want to be let down from where she rested against his cold, stone-like chest, playing with his hair and the buttons on his shirt. She looked up at him for a moment, and when he saw those eyes, he knew he was gone. He knew he would grow to love her, adore her even, just like the rest of his family had.

Feeling the eyes of everyone trained on the two of them, he sensed through his gift that Esme was extremely touched by the display, as was Alice. Emmett found the whole situation humorous.

Rosalie, Edward, and Carlisle, however, had very different feelings.

Rosalie felt extremely protective of the little girl in his arms; he could sense that she was on the brink of forcing her from him. Feeling slightly guilty that he had caused such a reaction, he focused instead on Carlisle's emotions, guessing that he would feel compassionate as always.

He was surprised by what he discovered.

The compassion was there, yes, but there was also the aggressive need to protect Delilah from him, and Jasper was amazed. Carlisle must have already loved this little girl very much; what else could make him so completely protective and territorial, like a father whose only child in the world was being held in the arms of a predator.

But that was what he was, a predator, and the most dangerous kind, at that. most humans could sense danger right away when it came to him. But Delilah did not seem to mind in the slightest.

Strange.

He focused next on Edward, curious what his take on the whole situation would be.

He found that Edward was a little protective of Delilah, but that seemed to be it. He did not seem to care for her as much as his family did; he felt suspicious, and though Jasper did not know why, he assumed it had something to do with what Edward had seen in her thoughts in the last couple of years.

He looked Edward in the eyes, knowing he had heard his thoughts, and an odd expression came over the other vampire's face, like he was indecisive about something.

His feelings suddenly took a sharp turn, fleeing towards anxiety, and, could it be… fear?

But as fast as it had come, it had gone, along with Edward, who had whirled from the house, a feeling of anger taking over, strong and unbridled, almost like hate.

But Edward couldn't possibly hate a creature as innocent as Delilah… could he?


	6. A Much Needed Vacation

Delilah was a very antisocial girl.

Alice had known that from the beginning, which was why she had been very careful in earning the little girl's trust. At first it had been slow going, what with Delilah's hesitance toward strangers, but Delilah had eventually warmed up to her when she'd seen that Jasper loved Alice and vise versa.

It had been nearly a year since Alice and Jasper had returned, and no one could really explain the bond between Delilah and Jasper, how she had taken to him so quickly. Seeing them together, one could tell immediately that she adored him, often following him around, practically stepping on his heels.

Carlisle had grown extremely worried about this, anxious that the scent of her blood would get to him, but the strange thing was that his hunger lessened somewhat when she was near, something that hadn't happened with the others. Perplexing, but no one thought too hard on it.

On the day that Delilah first started to warm up to Alice, she had been wearing a white tank top and a white skirt with hints of hot pink sewn into the lacy white of the tutu-like ruffles.

The Cullens had decided to take a vacation someplace warm, so that Delilah could get some sun. Carlisle figured she must be tired of the freezing weather in Alaska, even though she never complained. So they escaped to Honolulu, Hawaii, where Rosalie and Emmett had bought a beach house a few years before.

At the airport, they had all split up, Rosalie, Emmett, and Edward on another flight, in order to draw less attention to themselves.

Alice had announced that she was going on their flight because she needed to talk to Edward, so Jasper hadn't minded when Delilah had run up to him, her emotions dominated by her fear of strangers. She had been practically glued to his side, trying to hide away from the crowds of strangers.

Jasper heard several people gasping at Delilah, whispering about how adorable she was, even calling her gorgeous, and he picked her up protectively, cradling her to him and sending her calm feelings. She relaxed a little, leaning back against his chest and reaching up to twirl a piece of his hair.

So with an extremely small seven-year-old in one arm, and their bags in the other, he tried to ignore the stares directed at him by several strangers.

Once they were settled on the plane, Delilah carefully buckled into the safety belt on her seat, Jasper finally allowed himself to relax. Keeping an eye on Delilah, whose eyes were drooping, he took out his phone and dialed Carlisle's number.

Carlisle answered on the first ring. "Jasper, how is everything? Is Delilah alright?"

Jasper glanced at her from the corner of his eye, pleased to find that she was already dozing. "She's fine, Carlisle. She's almost asleep already."

Carlisle sounded puzzled. "A little early for that, isn't it? We haven't even taken off yet."

"I think she's worn out from the stress of seeing too many strangers."

When Carlisle responded, he sounded anxious. "Well, make sure she eats something around noon, even if it's just a few grapes."

After getting a promise out of Jasper, Carlisle hung up the phone, frowning slightly to himself. Esme, who sat beside him, touched his shoulder gently. He caressed her hand softly, the crease between his brows lightening for just a second.

His wife smiled at him, laying her head on his shoulder. "She'll be fine. Jasper will take care of her, and if worse comes to worst, we're on the same plane, remember? I doubt it would take long to locate them."

"Aren't just a little concerned for her? She's seldom been out of the house before, and she's never been around this many strangers."

Esme smiled sadly at him. "I am concerned. Delilah is the baby I never had, and I would hate myself if anything happened to her. But she's safe with Jasper. I think he would die before he let anything touch that girl." Carlisle nodded.

"Wouldn't we all?" He sighed. "You're right, I'm just overly worried."

Esme grabbed his hand and held it in her own, rubbing circles on his palm with her thumb. "You should call Rosalie. If I know her, she'll want hourly reports."

Carlisle smiled and took out his phone again, but there was no cell service. He sighed, a frown marring his face. "I guess Rosalie will have to wait a while," he murmured, knowing she wouldn't be too happy about that.

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><p>Two hours later, a worried and fuming Rosalie answered her cell phone hurriedly, steaming.<p>

"Why haven't you called me before now? Is Delilah ok? Is she motion sick? Why did _you _have to be on the same plane as her and not me? I should be sitting next to her right now, Carlisle!"

Emmett put a hand on her waist, drawing her in for a one armed embrace as Carlisle talked.

"She's fine, Rosalie. She's probably asleep as we speak. I apologize for not calling before now, but there was no cell service."

Rosalie sighed, aggravated, but slowly calming down. "What time will your plane be in?"

"We'll be in Hawaii in about six hours, give or take. Have you and the others gotten on your plane, yet?" Rosalie sighed again.

"No. Our flight was delayed an hour. Funny how Alice just _happened_ to not see it coming. Alice has been acting strange. First, she didn't warn us that our flight would be delayed, and now, she has Edward cornered somewhere on the other side of the airport, claiming she has to talk to him."

"Well, I'm sure whatever she needs to talk to him about is important."

She hated Carlisle's patronizing tone, and let him know by saying, "Just make sure Delilah's ok!" and promptly hanging up on him.

Emmett shook his head at her, her favorite crooked grin dominating his handsome face. "You know," he commented smartly. "Some people say goodbye before they hang up."

She glared at him.

"I just can't stand the thought that she's on a different plane than me, and she'll be in Hawaii way before us! I'll never know if something goes wrong!"

"We have Alice for that. You know she'd never let anything happen to Delilah, she'd warn us if something horrible was going to happen."

Rosalie frowned. "Sometimes I doubt it. I know that she loves Delilah as much as any of the rest of us, but something happens to Alice's powers when Delilah's involved. Haven't you noticed? It's like Alice just doesn't know _how _to see Delilah's future."

Emmett wrapped his arms around her comfortingly. "I wouldn't worry about it too much, Rose. When it comes down to it, I'm sure that if something horrible were going to happen, Alice would see something, even something small, that would warn us."

Rosalie sighed, leaning back in his arms. "I guess you're right, but I still won't be able to relax until I can see her and know for sure she's okay."

Emmett's mood turned joking as he lovingly twisted a strand of her fair hair around his finger. "Well, lucky for you, you don't have to.

"Everyone knows I can relax more than enough for the both of us."

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><p>The moment Delilah stepped off the plane, hand securely held in Jasper's, Carlisle and Esme were with them, bags in hand.<p>

Esme picked Delilah up and hugged her. "How did you like your flight, darling? Are you alright? Do you feel ok? Daddy has some medicine with him, if you think you're going to be sick."

Delilah shook her head solemnly, curling a tiny hand around the back of Esme's neck and laying her head on the woman's shoulder. Jasper went to go get his and Delilah's things while Carlisle and Esme waited with her, Esme worrying over her health.

When Jasper returned, the four of them set off in the car Esme and Carlisle had rented. It was a sleek, silver Nissan, a little conspicuous for Hawaii, but luxurious, and Delilah seemed to like it. Almost the entire way to the beach house, she rubbed the smooth leather upholstery with her fingers, distractedly kicking the back of Carlisle's seat with her small, sandal-clad feet.

When they arrived at the beach house, it was almost noon, and Delilah began to get hungry, pulling on the hem of Esme's shorts and pointing to the refrigerator imploringly.

Esme smiled, and scooped her daughter up in her arms, deliberating for a moment.

"Well, we haven't been to the store yet to buy groceries, so I guess we'll just have to eat out tonight. Does that sound okay to you, darling?"

Delilah nodded silently.

"Great," Esme chirped. "Carlisle, I'm taking Delilah out to lunch," she called out to him.

Carlisle walked into the room seemingly out of nowhere. "That sounds fine. Are you sure you'll be alright?"

Esme smiled at him. "Darling, we'll be fine. Sometimes I think you worry too much."

Carlisle took her into his arms and kissed her softly. "With a wife and daughter as valuable as the two of you, I have reason to," he told her adoringly. Then he bent down and picked up Delilah, who had been watching them with unreadable eyes and a cryptic emotion on her pretty face, and cradled her between the two of them, kissing her on the forehead gently.

He held her for a moment, listening to her heart beating, glorifying in the fact that it _was _beating, before he put her down. "The others should be here in a few hours, and I know that Rosalie will be tearing this house apart if she doesn't find Delilah upon first glance, so you might want to be back before then."

Esme nodded. "It shouldn't take that long. Do we have a phonebook anywhere?"

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><p>Delilah sat in the backseat of the Nissan, phonebook in her lap, flipping through the pages while she kicked her feet into the back of the passenger seat, looking for restaurants. She knew how to read most words, but she still had to ask Esme for help on some of them. Esme, who had covered most of her skin with a pretty blue scarf, some gloves and a long, blue sundress, sat behind the wheel, tracing her way back to town so they could eat.<p>

Delilah had pouted - as much Delilah could pout, anyway - when she had found out that Jasper was not coming with them to eat. When they had been getting into the car and Esme had started the ignition, the little girl had spoken up suddenly.

"_Jasper_?" she had questioned quietly. Esme had shaken her head.

"_I have a feeling Jasper needs to rest, honey_," she'd said, knowing that although Delilah's blood did not tempt Jasper, he most likely would not want to be in a restaurant where there was a lot of people, especially so soon after he had been on a plane full of them.

Delilah had put on a depressed face for a few moments, until Esme had handed her the thick phonebook.

"_Would you like to pick the restaurant_?"

Then she had been fine, though a little down, as she perused the book with interest.

When Delilah had finally found a restaurant that she liked, she tapped Esme on the shoulder, indicating that she wanted to go there. Esme smiled. It was a cheap place, fast food, probably not very healthy.

Sometimes Delilah was a very normal child.

Once Esme knew where they were going, it did not take very long to get there. They pulled up into the parking lot, and as Esme looked for a spot, she noticed Delilah looking at the play place, where there were some children playing tag. As they were walking up to the door, she watched how Delilah's eyes followed them, how her fingers twitched when a little black haired girl ran up and tagged a taller, brown haired girl. Esme wondered if Delilah wanted to play with them.

"Sweetie, do you want to go play while I order?"

Delilah's attention quickly snapped to Esme, and she shook her head, looking frightened. Esme frowned, slightly worried, but acquiesced her daughter's wishes.

"If you're sure, darling."

But for the whole time Delilah was eating her fruit and yogurt - which was the only thing at this restaurant that Esme knew she could keep down - she kept sneaking glances at the children in the play area, probably when she thought that Esme wasn't looking.

As she watched her daughter's beautiful blue eyes watching the children and their game, Esme knew that there was no small amount of loneliness in that stare, too, a feeling that she didn't fit in.

And nothing else in the world, short of losing a child, could ever hurt a mother more.

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><p><strong>AN: So... Leave a review? I really enjoy reading your reviews and knowing what you guys think of the chapter! :)<strong>


	7. Thinking

**AN: Hi, everyone! So sorry for the long wait in between updates, but I've been really busy lately. This week is my school's grading period, and I've been trying to get my grades up. Wish me luck, heaven knows I'll need it ;)**

When Esme and Delilah returned home, it was to a frantic Rosalie.

They had taken longer than Esme had expected because she'd decided that she wanted to go out and get a feel for what the shops in Hawaii were like, so she'd taken Delilah to a few.

The little girl had seemed to like them, walking very close to Esme but sometimes reaching out to touch a colorful dress with her small, pale hand. She'd especially liked the humble little pet shop they'd looked around in. Delilah seemed to like animals very much, which was unfortunate, considering she could never have a pet.

Esme knew that for one thing, an animal would immediately sense the danger in the family - namely the family itself - and would either run away or strike out in what it believed was self defense, and as long as she was on this earth, Esme swore to herself she would not let Delilah come to any harm.

Esme had bought Delilah a stuffed dog toy with floppy ears at the next shop they'd visited, to compensate for the fact that the little girl could never have the real thing.

Esme walked into the beach house, carrying Delilah in one arm and taking off the scarf and gloves she'd been wearing with the other, and Rosalie was there, taking Delilah from Esme and hugging the girl to her.

"Are you okay, sweetie? You didn't get sick from the airplane, did you?"

Delilah shook her head no, relaxing in Rose's freezing arms and playing with a lock of her hair.

Rosalie sighed, relieved that the little girl was safe and back in her arms.

And that was that.

Meanwhile, Edward was in his bedroom on the top floor, mulling over the conversation he'd had with Alice before they'd boarded the plane.

_"You know that she's different."_

_Edward nodded reluctantly_.

_"She's obviously not human, or, not a normal human, anyway."_

He studied the green curtains hanging on his window, embroidered with gold stitching, thinking back to the conversation.

_"I know."_

_"You see it in her thoughts, don't you?"_

He shifted his position, laying back on the king sized bed that he had absolutely no use for.

_"Yes. I don't know what she is, though. She can't remember enough of her life before, and everything she did remember, she's forgotten during her time with us."_

Vaguely, he listened to the conversation downstairs. Rosalie was coddling Delilah.

_"I can only see parts of her future. It's like she blocks my powers unconsciously. I see only small glimpses - something about rain, and then fire. What if she's going to be hurt?"_

_Edward shook his head. "I don't think so, but there is definitely something strange about her."_

_"Jasper said he doesn't thirst for her blood."_

_He nodded._

_"I know."_

_"He said that whenever she's near, he doesn't thirst for blood at all. Could she be employing some form of power on him, maybe?"_

_"I'm not sure."_

_"Do you hate Delilah?"_

The question had taken him by surprise.

_"No," he answered honestly._

_"Are you afraid of her?"_

_"No,"_ he'd answered again, because he really wasn't afraid of Delilah.

What Edward was afraid of was having no control.

He was used to knowing anything and everything. He wasn't used to uncertainty. Uncertainty frightened him, because he was no longer in control.

He hated not knowing.

He heard Delilah's nearly silent giggles from downstairs as Emmett entertained her by juggling all three TV remotes.

No, he did not hate Delilah. He loved her. He did not fear Delilah. He feared for her. And he felt that if he could just know something about her past, he could protect her more effectively.

Unfortunately for him, he knew next to nothing about Delilah.

And that was what scared him most.

**AN: Ok, so did you guys like it? This chapter was mainly a filler, but I feel kind of proud of it. Leave a review and let me know what _you_ think! :) **


	8. At the Park

**AN: Hey, everyone! Sorry it's been so long since I last updated, but to make up for it, I'm gonna try to post some links up on my profile page showing you all what Delilah looks like! Also, are any of you guys Lord of the Rings fans? If so, would you be willing to read a LOTR fic if I decided to put one up? I just found one the other day that I had written a few years ago. It was the first fanfiction I ever wrote, so it needs a bit of work, but let me know if you think I should work on putting it up! Okay, sorry for the long author's note (though if you're like me you got bored with it and scrolled down to read the story already)! XD**

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><p>Alice sat on the couch across from Delilah, who sat on the floor, playing with her new stuffed dog. She seemed to really adore the little thing, playing with it very carefully, like she would break it if she handled it too roughly.<p>

As if sensing someone's gaze on her, Delilah looked up, straight into Alice's eyes. They looked at each other for a moment, then Delilah looked away at Rosalie, who had entered the room from upstairs, Emmett following.

Delilah stood and made her way over to Emmett, and he lifted her up into the air and sat her down on his shoulder, keeping his hands steadily on her waist to make sure she didn't fall off.

"Hey there, 'Lila Jo," he said cheerfully.

Delilah giggled silently at his funny nickname for her. Rosalie, however, did not seem very amused.

"Put her down! You are going to drop her doing that!"

After Delilah was safely on the floor, Rosalie relaxed.

"Sweetheart," she said dotingly. "We're going to run to the store real quick, would you like anything?"

Delilah shook her head, and Rosalie nodded reluctantly; she'd secretly wanted another chance to spoil Delilah.

They both gave Delilah a parting hug, and after the two had left, Alice turned to the little girl, an idea popping into her head.

"Do you want to go somewhere, Delilah?"

Delilah tilted her little strawberry colored head, furrowing her brows. "Where?" she questioned.

"Hmm," Alice put a finger to her chin. "How about the park? I saw one on the way to the mall the other day."

Delilah nodded. "Okay," she said.

She waited patiently, playing with her dog, while Alice put on a long sleeved sundress, a scarf, and some sunglasses in order to hide her skin.

When Alice was ready and Delilah had successfully strapped on her little Velcro sandals, they set off, taking Alice's car.

Delilah sat in her booster seat in the back, swinging her little legs, which were a good five inches away from touching the floor. Alice turned on the radio as they drove, occasionally humming along. The silence was comfortable, and they soon arrived at the park.

Delilah unbuckled herself while Alice made sure her scarf was covering her skin well enough.

Smiling shyly, Delilah waited for Alice to lead the way before she went over to the swings, sitting down on one and kicking her legs back and forth. Getting nowhere, she reluctantly allowed Alice to push her for a few minutes until she quietly, yet stubbornly, insisted that she could do it herself.

Alice sat on a nearby bench, content to just watch Delilah. After a while, she pulled out a novel from her beach bag and skimmed over it lightly, keeping one eye on Delilah all the while.

She was in the tenth chapter when she noticed that the little girl had stopped swinging.

She glanced up and saw that Delilah had stopped the swing and was dragging her feet in the sand beneath it. Her striking blue eyes were focused on several Hawaiian children who had just entered the park.

The children ran, chasing each other and calling out to one another. One little girl with dark hair and coffee colored skin broke away from the group and curiously made her way over to Delilah, who sat motionless on her swing. Though the girls were most likely the same age, they did not look it. Delilah did not look seven; she looked more like she was five.

The little Hawaiian girl sat in the swing next to Delilah's, swaying back and forth.

"Hello," she said. "My name's Kara. What's your name?" Delilah smiled hesitantly.

"Delilah," she whispered.

"Do you want to come play with us?" Kara asked in her slight accent.

Delilah nodded.

"Well," said Kara, grabbing Delilah's hand and pulling her from the swing. "You can't _play_ if you're sitting all by yourself!"

Delilah followed as Kara led her to the other children. "This is D-Lila," she said bossily. "And she's going to play with us."

"_Why_?" one boy asked with a scowl on his face.

"_Because_. I'm older than you all!" Kara said importantly. The little boy's scowl only grew deeper.

"I'm the oldest of _all_ my brothers and sisters," Kara said proudly to Delilah.

Alice felt a little sorry for their mother as she watched the six siblings squabbling with each other nonstop.

Kara focused back in on Delilah after a minute. "How many brothers and sisters do _you_ have?"

"None," Delilah said a little reluctantly.

"_Really_?" Kara breathed, sounding shocked.

For the next few minutes, the children pestered Delilah with questions, asking her why she didn't have any siblings, and pretty much every other question they could think of.

The little boy who had scowled at Delilah sat on the ground nearby, all by himself, frowning at his shoes and pulling up grass with his little tan fingers. 

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><p><strong>AN: What do you guys think? Leave a review and let me know, and don't forget to tell me if you think I should put up a LOTR fanfic! ;) <strong>


	9. A Problem

**AN: Happy late Thanksgiving, everyone! Sorry I disappeared for a while, but I wrote a normal sized chapter (for once) to make up for it!**

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><p>The Cullens had been quite enjoying their stay in Hawaii. It had been three months since they had arrived, and the sun seemed to be doing some good for Delilah, who no longer looked like a child on the verge of death.<p>

She was still very pale because her skin just didn't seem to want to tan (and even if it did want to, Rosalie, who rubbed gallons of sunscreen on the girl per day, had likely ensured that she would stay white for the rest of her life), but she was much more healthy and happy.

Her stomach no longer brought back up everything she ate, which came as a relief to Carlisle, who had grown extremely concerned that Delilah wasn't getting nearly enough nutrition.

His theory had been that this was the reason she didn't seem to grow much, but he had been proven wrong when she started to look healthier and still wouldn't grow. He guessed that there was no other explanation for her lack of development than to assume she had been premature as an infant.

Other than that, Delilah seemed to love Hawaii. She liked going shopping with Rosalie, Esme, and Alice, and she was bought a soft new scarf or sundress every time they went - Delilah liked things that were soft. She trailed after Rosalie in every store, running her hand along all the scarves and skirts and smiling when she found an extra soft one.

On the odd days when Emmett and Jasper could separate her from Rosalie's overprotective clutches, Delilah went fishing with them in the private little cove that had come with the beach house property when Rose and Emmett had first bought it in 1990.

Sometimes, she just stayed home with Carlisle while he did hospital paperwork, playing with her stuffed dog, which remained her all time favorite toy.

Even though they no longer lived in Alaska, Carlisle still worked for the hospital, doing all paperwork and research. Oftentimes when he was finished with his work, she sat on his lap in his big cushy red chair and he read to her. Carlisle loved reading to Delilah, because he knew she enjoyed it and he loved making her happy.

But she especially adored the little park Alice had taken her to the first week they'd been there. Delilah had made friends with the six children she'd met that day, and it didn't take long until she was playing with them every little girl loved having friends, and the children seemed well adjusted for how young they were. They never once said anything mean or insensitive to her about her tiny size or her pale coloring - in fact, it was like they hadn't even noticed that she was different from them.

When Delilah came to the park every day to play, they were almost always there waiting for her. And being friends with them, Delilah came to know a lot about them.

Kara was the oldest at eight, and she was by far Delilah's favorite; the two had become fast friends. Then there was Alana, who was seven and had silky black hair that hung down to her knees and often got in the way. Kyler, who was eight months younger than Alana, was extremely hyper all the time. He was a little rough, but polite and well mannered over all.

Azure was four, and she had slightly less tan colored skin than the rest of her siblings and very dark, lovely blue eyes. Ambra, who was three, was a sweet child, and seemed to idolize Delilah. She'd taken to trailing behind the older girl, much like Delilah followed Jasper around.

The younger boy of the siblings, Kai, was almost five, and he didn't seem to like Delilah very much; whenever his brother and sisters played with her, he sat off by himself and played in the sand. Alice, who was often the one who took Delilah to the park to play with them, chalked it up to the age; the boy probably could do without another girl to play with.

For the first few weeks that Delilah knew them, the children almost always came to the park by themselves, so Alice assumed that they lived not far from there, but on one especially bright day, a day when Alice had covered her skin extra carefully, the children's mother accompanied them to the park.

Mel, as the woman became known to Alice, was a short, slightly rounded young woman with a face lined with sincerity and warmth. She had dark, jungle green eyes and black hair that was very straight and very long, and her coffee skin seemed to shine golden in the sunlight.

Though she was very beautiful, she dressed humbly in a faded turquoise sundress and worn brown sandals. On her wrist she always wore a clumsily braided red bracelet that Alice guessed one of her children had made for her. Alice knew right away that Mel was someone trustworthy; she talked kindly to Delilah, even though the little girl was extremely shy at first.

Alice and Mel hit it off right away, and they spent a good two hours chatting to each other while the children played on the swings, little Kai sitting by himself and glancing up sulkily at his brother and sisters every once in a while.

After that first day, Mel came to the park many times with her children, and Alice and she became good friends; Delilah even visited their house a few times. But always, Kai sat off by himself and didn't play with the others.

"You know," Mel confided to Alice once, "sometimes I worry about him. He's not as social as the rest of them - always by himself."

It became known to Alice that almost all of Mel's children had been infants who she'd adopted - she was infertile, but had always wanted many children.

And Alice found that she understood completely.

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><p>One fine evening, after an afternoon of play at her friends' house, Alice decided it was time for her to take Delilah home to Rosalie, who was bound to have started pulling her hair out with worry, as she was prone to do when it came to Delilah.<p>

"Come on, Sweetie," she called out to the little girl, saying goodbye to Mel. But Delilah did not seem to want to go home yet. She dragged her feet all the way to the car. Alice frowned, wondering what was wrong; usually she was a perfectly mannered little girl. Alice reasoned that she probably just didn't want to leave her friends.

"Want to go see Jasper?" she asked as a last resort when Delilah wouldn't get into the car. The girl hesitated for a moment before she reluctantly climbed in and got in her booster seat.

Alice was starting the car and getting ready to pull out into the road when she saw it.

She felt Delilah's eyes boring into the back of her head as she whipped out her cell phone and dialed Carlisle's number.

"What do they want?" she asked when he answered on the first ring.

"Edward says they are in alliance with the Volturi. They think we have an immortal child living with us."

Alice turned her head around to look at Delilah, whose face was eerily emotionless. "But she's not-"

"It doesn't matter; she's not a normal human, you and I both know that," Edward's voice came through the phone.

"They cannot meet her. They want to converse with all of us. Is there someplace where Delilah will be safe while they're here?"

Alice was unbuckling Delilah, who was still staring at her, her bright eyes wide. "Yes," she answered, hanging up and picking Delilah up.

She shut the door hurriedly and winced as it made a crunching noise. She held Delilah a little looser.

She found Mel in exactly the same spot in her backyard, her children still playing. The young woman spotted Alice and Delilah.

"Alice? What's wrong?"

"I was wondering if you could watch Delilah for a couple of hours, actually. I have an emergency I need to deal with and I can't take her with me." There, as close to the truth as she could get.

"Of course dear, no problem," Mel said. "Is everything okay?"

"Oh yes," Alice answered, lying through her teeth, which were exposed in a fake smile. "Are you sure you don't mind?"

"Not at all," Mel reassured.

"Thank you so much," Alice gushed, grabbing the woman's hands.

She was careful not to hold on too long, lest Mel feel the coldness.

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><p><strong>AN: So there it is! This isn't my best chapter, but things will get a little more exciting after this!<strong>

**On a side note, I saw Breaking Dawn Part 1 last Sunday, and it was AWESOME! I absolutely loved it! You should go see it if you haven't yet! It was a little graphic though, so it probably wouldn't be a good idea to take anyone younger than 12. But I was so happy with it, it was so action packed! :) Leave me a review and tell me if you've seen it yet! **


	10. Making Hamburgers

**AN: Hey guys! So I know this chapter is pretty short and not really that important, but after this, things will speed up age-wise, meaning another time lapse, most likely. I only plan on doing a couple more chapters where Delilah's this age, and then I'll move on. By the way, Merry Christmas! :)**

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><p>Alice's mind was racing as she sped home, ignoring the speed limit. So the Volturi had somehow learned about Delilah and had discovered that she was not a normal human. The only question was, how had they found out? Had they been keeping a closer eye on the family than they'd originally assumed?<p>

As she pulled into the drive, she heard them in the family room. They were not talking, or even breathing, but she heard them nonetheless. She walked at normal speed- that is to say, vampire speed- into the room, setting eyes on two vampires that did not belong there.

One was built, much like Emmett, but his eyes held none of the warmth that usually radiated brightly from Emmett. He looked imposing and cold as he stared her down, and Jasper moved to her side, a low growl building in his throat as he grasped her hand securely in his own.

The other, who was lean and red haired, looked as if he were trying to remain cordial, but when he stepped forward, there was something in his blood red eyes that slightly diturbed her.

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><p>"Delilah, honey, would you like more juice?"<p>

Delilah nodded, watching as Mel stopped on her journey to the refrigerator to clean up the milk that Kyler and Alana had spilled while fighting over the toy from the cereal box. She took a small bite of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich on white bread that Mel had made her.

Alice had called Mel on the phone and asked if Delilah could stay for a few more days, but that had been a week ago, and Delilah was starting to worry that the Cullens just didn't want her anymore. If so, it must have been some fault of her own that had offended them, ergo the intensely thoughtful look on her face when Mel poured her the last bit of grape juice from the big white pitcher.

She was deep in contemplation wondering what she had done to upset them when Ambra, who was sitting beside her, began pulling on the sleeve of the shirt Mel had lent her from out of Azure's closet. The four-year-old had not minded, though she had found it incredibly amusing that a seven-year-old could fit into her clothes.

Mel had tried Alana's clothes first, asuming they would fit because the girls were almost the same age, but the shirt had gone down to Delilah's knees, and the pants had pooled at her feet. Azure's clothes fit just right, so Delilah thought it was a good thing she was okay with lending them to her, though Kyler had said "Momma woulda made her to, anyway, so don't worry 'bout it."

"Play," said Ambra when Delilah finally gave her attention to her.

Delilah obliged the three-year-old, sliding carefully out of her chair at the table and giving the rest of her sandwich to Kai, who scarfed it down immediately, grinning at her with a mouthful of peanut-butter-and-jelly-on-white-bread colored food. As she followed Ambra to the girls' bedroom to play, Delilah wondered at the fact that Kai was being much nicer to her than he had been. He had started playing games with the rest of them, and Delilah was glad he didn't sit out anymore.

She and Ambra sat down in the middle of the floor, where there was a mess of toys, and began playing blocks. Delilah was quite content with the simple game, but when Alana and Kara came to play, they didn't like it much.

"That's for babies," Alana said to Ambra, whose lower lip began to tremble.

"Let's play a game that's more fun," Kara, the mediator, said.

Alana's face brightened. "Let's play Dolls!" And she raced to her box to pull out several worn, half naked Barbies and one Ken whose head was duct taped onto his neck. Several minutes of digging found them six outfits and seven tiny shoes, none of which matched.

So the five of them sat and played Barbie dolls, fashioning houses out of the big wooden blocks that had previously been deemed 'for babies' and making up stories for the Barbies that would have been fit for a soap opera. Delilah mostly watched them, content to be witness, and occasionally giggling softly when someone thought up an extra funny story.

Ken and Barbie were engaged in a heated argument over the fact that he had cheated on her with her best friend ("You dirty cheater!"), when Delilah heard something outside the window.

She lifted herself up and went to it, putting her hands on the sill and stretching her head up to see who it was. Azure's face smiled up at her.

"Lila, come and look what we're doin'!"

Delilah obeyed, running through the hallway, then walking slowly through the kitchen where Mel was washing dishes because Mel didn't like it when they ran inside the house.

As she stopped to struggle with the door handle, a sudden thought came to her: maybe the Cullens didn't like her anymore because she broke the rules. Esme or Carlisle or Rosalie had never told her that she couldn't run inside the house, but maybe that was something everybody already knew. And if she had broken one rule, what others had she unknowingly undermined? There was no telling. What must they think of her?

She slowed as the shame weighed her down, and when she got to spot in the backyard where Azure and Kyler and Kai were, they were getting impatient.

"Lila, how come you run so slow?" whined Kai, but Kyler shushed him, and he settled down.

"Guess what we're doing!" Delilah shrugged wordlessly, looking at him questioningly.

Azure was bouncing with excitement as she showed Delilah a little pot filled with soil. "We're makin' hamburgers!"

Delilah looked inside the pot, which appeared to have sesame seeds in it.

Kyler snickered. "I tried to tell 'em it wouldn't work! They think that picking the little bitty seeds off hamburger buns and planting them will grow hamburgers!"

"Shut up, Kyler!" Kai's face was red as he defended what he'd thought was a novel idea.

"You shut up!"

"Will it work, Lila?" asked Azure hopefully.

Delilah began to shrug, but then changed her mind and nodded. After all, she was sure that stranger things must have happened.

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><p>It was three weeks before Alice came for her, and Delilah had already given up any hope she'd had of ever living with the Cullens again.<p>

Which made it even more of a surprise than it already was when she spotted Alice's sleek car parked on the street in front of Mel's house when they were returning from the park one day.

Delilah stayed behind Mel after she saw it, walking beside Kai and Kara because she figured Alice might not want to see her, that maybe she wanted to see Mel, and also because she felt a little bitter that Alice had left her there for so long.

But when Alice opened the car door, she didn't greet Mel, as Delilah had assumed she would. The first thing that Alice did was call out "Delilah!"

Delilah poked her head out from behind Mel, and even though she knew Alice had seen her, she hoped she could just stay there and hide until Alice decided to leave, because she knew she must be in trouble- though for what she did not know.

But she was proven wrong when Alice got down to her level and held out her arms invitingly. "Delilah, come here!" Relieved, the little girl ran to Alice, throwing herself into her arms.

She hadn't realized how much she'd terribly missed Alice until that exact moment, when she felt two cold arms envelope her and hug her gently, softly, almost like a mother.

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><p><strong>AN: Soooo...? Like I said, I know this chapter is very short and meaningless, but I wanted to give you guys another chapter today in the spirit of Christmas! :D And maybe you guys could give me the gift of some nice, long reviews! *wink, wink*<strong>


	11. Goodbyes

**AN: Hey guys, so sorry for the long wait! Anyway, this will be the last chapter set in Hawaii, so wave goodbye! Oh, and you guys have got to go read this Twilight fanfiction I'm Beta-ing for! It's called _Crash_, by Pichigaru, and it's awesome so far! You should go check it out!**

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><p>Esme sighed quietly. She'd known that they would have to leave Hawaii soon, but <em>she<em>, for one, was not looking forward to telling a certain little girl that she would have to leave her only friends behind.

She would've gladly stayed for another several years, but their recent visitors had made it very clear that they were putting their secret in harm's way and that if they didn't leave willingly…

But Esme was just glad they hadn't pursued the subject of an immortal child any further than they already had. Once Carlisle had explained to them that Delilah was nothing more than a human child and that she knew absolutely nothing about them being vampires, the red haired one had reluctantly relented, though his companion had left them with a chilling warning.

Esme shivered, not wanting to think about anything happening to Delilah. Even after they had left, Delilah was kept away for her safety, until Edward and Alice had been absolutely sure that they weren't still in the area.

Speaking of Delilah, the little girl had been acting strange lately. Ever since she'd come home from Mel's house, it had been like she was walking on eggshells around the Cullens. She had been a good child before, but now it was like she was trying to be a model little girl. She had become very quiet around them all, and seldom refused anything anymore, even help. A fact which worried Esme, because if Delilah was anything, she was independent, almost to a fault.

She never ran through the house anymore; she sat demurely on the sofa, watching football games with Emmett, and she never ate anywhere but in the kitchen, where she ate very slowly and was careful not to drop any crumbs. Esme couldn't help wondering if this had anything to do with her stay at Mel's.

Presently she sat at the kitchen table, watching Delilah sit with perfect posture next to Jasper as he watched the news. The child looked quite bored, but still she sat there, her eyes drooping slightly as Jasper looked at her out of the corner of his eye.

Frowning, Esme got up from her seat, making her way to the stairs at a more human speed for Delilah's sake, then going at a normal speed to Carlisle's office, where he was busy doing paperwork. She stopped in the doorway, taking in his appearance.

His hair was flawless, as always, the golden blond locks subtly catching the soft light from the reading lamp on his desk, and his brows were furrowed as he worked, his lips pursed slightly. Esme smiled as he looked up at her, her heart overflowing with love for her husband. He smiled as well, holding his arms out for her, and she went to him and sat on his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck and leaning into him. His arms were comfortably tight around her as he tenderly kissed her neck, right on the scar where he'd bitten her in order to change her all those years ago.

"What's wrong, my love?" he murmured in her ear.

Esme smiled at his ability to know when she was worrying about something, then she frowned a little as she thought of the little girl downstairs.

"It's Delilah."

Carlisle tensed. "What about Delilah?" He questioned, even as he heard her heartbeat and breathing from the family room and knew that she was fine.

"Haven't you noticed the change in her lately? She's been acting different ever since she came home from Mel's house."

Carlisle thought for a moment about how Delilah had been acting peculiar around them lately, being careful, almost as if she was afraid of them. "Do you suppose it's to do with something that happened to her while she was there?"

"Mel wouldn't have let anything happen to Delilah," Alice reassured from where she suddenly stood in the doorway.

"Are you sure?" Carlisle asked.

"Of course I am."

"Edward's ability would have come in handy right about now," Esme said, thinking of her adopted son and sighing at the fact that he had gone back to Alaska to speak with the Denali clan.

Though Edward had been able to read the minds of their visitors, it had not helped one bit; they had never been privy to any information of who had said anything to the Volturi about the Cullens having an immortal child. He had gone back to Alaska to find out if one of the Denali clan had let anything slip, though they all doubted it.

"Why don't you go talk to her," Alice suggested. "Maybe all she needs is a little prodding before she tells us, and she's most comfortable around you and Jasper."

"Should I?"

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><p>Delilah seemed very uncomfortable on the couch, and her emotions only confirmed the suspicion to Jasper. She was nervous, almost as if she was afraid, which was something Jasper didn't understand. There was nothing that could hurt her here- not anymore, anyway. Maybe she was just sensing the family's distress over the recent visit from Volturi vampires; after all, children did tend to be very perceptive.<p>

But he didn't think that was the whole problem; there seemed to be something more. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye, watching her tense posture.

Esme's voice interrupted his musings. "Delilah, honey, can I talk to you for a moment?"

Delilah turned her body a little to face the woman, nodding her head silently.

"Is there something wrong?" Esme asked her. Delilah hesitated for a moment, then shook her head no.

"Are you sure, darling? You've been acting a little strange lately."

Jasper felt Delilah's emotions strengthen suddenly, and her heartbeat spiked. She wrung her hands nervously as she looked at her shoes, and suddenly Jasper understood what those emotions he'd sensed from her were, why she had been acting the way she had, why her emotions were so conflicting with one another.

"Delilah," he said. "Are you afraid you'll be sent away again?"

Delilah's blue eyes peered shyly up into his own, and she hesitantly nodded. "I don't want to be bad," she whispered, twisting her hands in her shirt.

"Who told you that you were bad?" Esme questioned as she took the little girl into her cold arms and hugged her for a moment.

"Nobody," Delilah said.

Esme placed both hands on Delilah's shoulders and looked her in the eyes. "I don't know where you got the idea, but you are not bad, Delilah Josephine, and you don't have to act perfectly. You might make mistakes, but it's important to remember that children are allowed to make mistakes sometimes, and whatever mistakes you end up making, there is nothing that could make me or Jasper or Rosalie or any one of us want to send you away. No matter what you do, we will almost always be able to make it right again. Do you understand?"

The little girl nodded, wide-eyed, and when Esme kissed her on the top of the head, Delilah reached up, wrapping her arms around Esme's neck and holding on to her.

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><p>Delilah sat outside on the sidewalk with her friends while Alice and Mel said their fond farewells. It had been a month since she and Esme had had their talk, and now it was time for the Cullen family to leave Hawaii and go back home, something neither her nor her friends were very happy about.<p>

"It's not fair," Alana whined.

"Quiet, 'lana," Kyler said glumly. "Don't you think we already know that?"

"How long will you be gone, Lila?" Kara asked her, and Delilah shrugged.

Kai frowned. "Probably _forever_!" he wailed suddenly.

"Not _forever_," Kara said smartly. "Delilah likes us _way_ too much to leave forever, right?" Delilah nodded silently.

Alice and Mel came out of the house soon after, and Mel picked up Ambra, who had tears in her eyes, and stood next to Azure. Then everyone gave Delilah lots of hugs, except for Kai, who insisted that he was much too manly to hug a girl, and eventually, the sun had set and there were no more goodbyes to be made.

Alice smiled down at Delilah. "Are you ready to leave?" The little girl nodded reluctantly, following as Alice led the way to the car.

It scared her when something suddenly knocked into her from behind, and she whirled around as Kai wrapped his arms around her in a hug.

"Come back real soon, Lila," he said shyly, before his face turned red and he ran back to his mother, who was holding her free hand over her mouth in amusement.

Mel wasn't the only one amused; as Delilah turned around again to get in the car, Alice's lips were turned up at the edges, her golden eyes sparkling.

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><p><strong>AN: Well there it is! Did you guys like it? Leave me a review and let me know!<strong>  
><strong>Also, I'm thinking of writing a Children of the Corn fic, and I'd like to know which name you guys like better, <em>Silent Faith<em> or _The Edge of the Sword_. ****Oh, and if any of you guys are in love with Carlisle and Esme's relationship like I am, you should check out my one-shot, _It Ain't Always Beautiful_!**


	12. The Dreams

**AN: Hey, everybody! So heads up, this chapter is probably a little confusing and was originally meant as a filler, but once I began writing, I just couldn't stop! XD Basically, all you need to know for now is that two years have passed since the Cullens left Hawaii. **

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><p>Delilah watched wearily from the window as the wind and rain pelted the huge house, making loud pitter-patter noises. She didn't like the rain very much. She worried that there would be a flood, like in Noah's Ark, a tale from the little blue storybook Rosalie had bought her.<p>

The book was filled with beautiful stories like Snow White, and fables like the Boy Who Cried Wolf, and many other old tales that came from a book that Esme said was called the Bible. Delilah liked the stories, but the idea of a flood that covered the whole earth seemed very scary; she didn't like thinking about deep water.

She shifted on the window seat, pulling her knees up to her chest and hugging them to her. She pressed her cheek against the window, which was cool to the touch and felt wonderful against her heated skin. She knew she should be in her bed, because Carlisle had said she needed her rest if she was to get better, but every time she tried to go to sleep, she had horrible nightmares about big, scary people, and she could feel in her dreams the stinging cold of the newly fallen snow, the pain on her head, the feeling of being paralyzed. She woke with tears streaming silently down her face each time she had the dream, and after the third time it had happened, she had crawled out of bed, somehow finding the strength to silently make her way to the window, where she had collapsed onto the plush damask fabric cushion, curling up into a ball.

She sighed, wheezing, feeling all too well the painful twinge deep in her chest and watching her breath fog the window. She drew a crude-looking smiley face in it, feeling as if she were in some kind of trance.

"Delilah?"

She turned her head towards the door, where Rosalie was standing suddenly.

"What are you doing out of bed?"

Delilah frowned, trying to answer but instead being taken over by a sudden coughing fit that rattled her chest and hurt her throat. Rosalie quickly made her way to the little girl's side, laying a cold hand on her back and rubbing it soothingly.

"Carlisle," she called out, her eyebrows coming together in worry.

"What's happened?" Carlisle questioned from the doorway, striding briskly into the room and over to the two of them. Delilah finally managed to stop coughing by holding her breath for a moment, but she felt tears sting her eyes at how much her chest and throat hurt.

Carlisle frowned, a worried glint in his eye. "Her lungs sound more congested than before," he murmured. He could tell just by looking at her that she had a raging fever; her face was flushed and her eyes were cloudy with feverish haze. He picked her up, ignoring the way she tensed for a moment like she always did, and gently laid her on her bed, pulling the covers up over her and smoothing her hair back from her forehead.

"Should we take her to the hospital?" Rosalie questioned, her eyes glued to the weak nine-year-old.

"No," Carlisle said reluctantly. "There is nothing they can do for her there that we haven't already tried. For now, all we can do is keep administrating the medication and hope the fever breaks."

Rosalie's face fell. She couldn't stand the fact that Delilah was so frail and there was absolutely nothing she could do to help. The little girl had developed pneumonia in the beginning of the winter and had not gotten better, despite the fact that it had been almost a month, and she knew Carlisle was running out of ideas, and as much as he hated to admit it, hope.

Delilah lay limply on her bed, her eyes droopy with sleep. But she didn't want to drift off just yet, didn't want to have another horrible nightmare. Her eyes closed, seemingly of their own accord, and she fell off to sleep with the image of a tall, frightening-looking man burned into her eyelids.

When she woke next, it was to the relaxing sensation of fingers running through her hair and the sound of quiet humming. She opened her eyes, her lashes feeling clumped together with her tears. Esme was sitting at her bedside, her face warm and loving as she looked down at her.

"Hello, sweetie," she crooned softly, her voice like honey. "How are you feeling?"

Delilah shook her head, groggy and saddened by her dream. She wiped the salty wetness from her cheeks and attempted to sit up, but there was a pain in her chest that stopped her from straightening up completely. Esme reached behind her and fluffed up her pillows, making it easier for her to sit up.

"Do you want something to eat, darling?" Delilah shook her head no, feeling too sick to eat anything.

"Darling, you really should eat something - you can't go without food," Esme pleaded with her.

Everyone in the Cullen family knew that if there was one thing Delilah desperately needed, it was food. Since coming to live with the Cullens, Delilah had always celebrated her birthday on October 17th, the day Carlisle had found her, because she couldn't remember her real birthday, almost as if she had never celebrated it before- but that wasn't surprising, considering the condition she'd been in before.

But even though she had turned nine years old a few months ago, Delilah still only looked like she was about seven. She was thin, almost dangerously so, and she looked malnourished, something which caused quite a bit of trouble with a few of her school teachers, who suspected the Cullens of underfeeding her.

But Delilah just wouldn't eat most things; she'd expanded her tastes a little since they'd left Hawaii, but now that she was getting older, the foods she had used to eat just weren't enough to keep a young girl alive. Esme and Rosalie had tried to feed her all sorts of foods, but there were few that Delilah had actually taken a liking to; she seemed to only like unusual foods, and fruit. She still had a love of grapes, but she had also found that she liked kiwi, watermelon, and tomatoes, strangely enough. She had also tried avocados, and had liked those plenty.

But there were few foods that contained proper nutrients that she actually liked. She wouldn't eat bread. At all. She also wouldn't eat most vegetables, which, in hindsight, made her a lot like every other child on the planet. Rosalie was fast running out of foods to give her.

Esme smiled at her, trying to convince her to eat. "What about some soup?" Delilah shrugged reluctantly, not wanting to displease Esme. The woman's face brightened, and she headed out of the room to make some soup for her.

Delilah laid back down, turning on her side and staring out her window at the still drizzling sky. She sighed heavily, recalling her dream – her nightmare. It had started out pitch dark, and she had been sitting on a cold floor. Then somebody had picked her up, but not gently like Carlisle did. The hands had grabbed her harshly by her upper arms, squeezing her until she felt her skin beginning to bruise. She tried to cry out for help, but it seemed like her voice was stuck in her throat, and she couldn't make a sound. She felt someone hitting her a few times, and she thought that was when she started crying in her sleep, because even though it was only a dream, it hurt like it had actually happened.

Then everything went black again, like she was falling asleep in her sleep, and when she "woke up," she was lying in something incredibly cold- snow, it must have been. The cold began to burn her skin, and it seemed like forever until someone was lifting her up, but not like before. These arms were so gentle, like she was a precious, breakable glass ornament meant for only the most beautiful Christmas tree. But they were cold, too, and they reminded her of her family, because their hands were always so cold.

That was where the dream always ended, and even though it had been almost a happy ending, she still found herself weeping when she woke, and sometimes, she could still feel the sting of the cold and the aching on different parts of her body. The dream seemed more like a memory than a nightmare, which confused Delilah, because she knew that the Cullens would never let anything bad happen to her. Still, it had seemed so real, and the thought that it actually might have happened to someone gave her unpleasant chills all up and down her back.

Shivering, she buried herself in her soft, down-filled comforter, feeling safely cocooned, and drifted off into yet another restless sleep.

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><p>Esme looked at Delilah's sleeping form from the doorway, the potato soup held still in her hands, long forgotten. It hurt Esme's heart to see her baby so weak and helpless and sad, and she desperately wished she could cry for her.<p>

She felt Carlisle's arms snake around her waist, his deft hands taking the bowl of soup from her and setting it on a long, nearby table that had been placed against the wall of the spacious hallway. Then he placed his arms gently back around her, resting his chin on her shoulder, the side of his face pressed against her neck, sighing quietly as they both watched the slumbering girl.

There were no words spoken; none were needed.

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><p>Edward paced the floor of the family room, his head filled with his family's thoughts and worries, not to mention his own. He knew there was a chance that Delilah would not get better; he didn't like to think about it, but he didn't have much of a choice, considering that he could hear the thoughts of every person in the house, and everyone's thoughts were focused solely on the sick, blue-eyed, precious little girl that was resting upstairs.<p>

Carlisle thought of nothing all day but methods that might help Delilah be rid of the pneumonia once and for all; he had literally driven himself almost to insanity doing all sorts of research even though they all knew it was futile. The only thing they could really do for Delilah was wait. He frowned at the floor, trying to think of nothing, not succeeding very well.

He knew Delilah was wary of him, that she thought he didn't like her very much. But there was nothing further from the truth. He just couldn't bring himself to reassure the little thing that she had his love. He didn't know how. For now, he was just content in watching Delilah's childhood from the sidelines and letting the others put their two cents in where they were needed. After all, she had six other people looking out for her; she wouldn't miss one more.

He tried guiltily not to think about the nightmares she had been having recently about her past. He knew she couldn't remember anymore what had happened to her before she had come to live with them, and he hoped that she wouldn't any time soon.

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><p>Jasper watched his adopted brother, feeling everything he was feeling- the worry and sadness for Delilah, the aggravation of not being able to block everything out- just like he felt the emotions of everyone else in the family. But there was something different about Edward's emotions- they seemed almost nonexistent.<p>

Of course Edward was worried over Delilah, but there was something almost numb about his feelings, like he couldn't decide how to feel. Edward's emotions had always been sort of cold and closed off, but now it was like there was something he wanted to care about, but couldn't quite bring himself to, and that worried Jasper immensely.

Disturbed, he tried not to focus on Edward's emotions anymore, instead honing in on the emotions of little Delilah, who was asleep in her bed upstairs. For the last few months, and especially after she had gotten sick, Delilah had been having some kind of recurring nightmare that Jasper guessed had something to do with her past. Almost every night, her sleep was filled with grief and pain and an acute longing all at once, and it pained Jasper to know that she was suffering these emotions, even if it was just a nightmare.

But manipulating her emotions while she slept could only work for so long, and the bad feelings didn't disappear all the way. There was still that vague sort of aftertaste feeling that lingered long after he had influenced her emotions, and she was still plagued with the nightmare, because as much as he very much wanted to at the moment, Jasper Cullen couldn't manipulate people's dreams.

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><p><em>The beginning of the dream was the same as always.<em>

_Delilah once again felt herself lifted in the air by someone unseen, and then the hitting began. She tried to cry out when she felt the phantom hand connect with the side of her face, and again when when it punched into her soft, vulnerable belly, but she found that she was incapable, as always, of making a sound, because there were hands around her neck, and they squeezed her throat hard, choking her._

_Then it was like time had been put into fast-forward, and she was laying in the freezing snow, her skin burning fiercely._

_Then the gentle hands reached out to her, just like in all the other dreams. But these hands were not cold. _

_They were hot._

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><p><strong>AN: So? Sorry if things were pretty spacey in this chapter, but like I said, it was originally meant as a filler. And I hope all the pneumonia symptoms sounded believable; I had pneumonia three times when I was little, but it was a long time ago, so all the memories are a little vague.<strong>

**Anyway, leave a review if you want and let me know what you thought of this chapter! :)**


	13. A Dreadful Word

**AN: Hey, guys! Once again, sorry about the long time period between updates, but I do have a reason for it this time! **

**I've been editing a lot of my earlier chapters, and I wanted to wait to post this until after I had finished most of the edits. Just a heads-up, for the next week or so, if it looks like I've updated about five different times, just know that I'm editing. There won't be any drastic changes, so don't feel obligated to go back and read them, but I will be combining a few chapters, and I just wanted to let you guys know in advance so you didn't get confused when I have less chapters than I do now!**

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><p><em>From there on, Delilah's dream seemed to take a new turn...<em>

_The hands that were holding her were scorching hot, and Delilah tried to shy away from them at first, but the way they cradled her so gently, so reverently, made her think twice, and she allowed the person to hold her. Her vision blurry through the haze of her dream, she looked up into the eyes of the stranger. His eyes were a deep, dark brown, and she thought absentmindedly that they were rather pretty._

_As if in a trance, she reached out with porcelain fingertips and touched the tanned skin right below one of them. When she realized what she'd done, she retracted the small hand swiftly, knowing that it was rude to just touch people's faces, and thinking that she had earned herself a stern rebuke. But all the boy did was smile warmly at her, like a big brother might do, and she relaxed a little in his arms._

_"Who are you?" she questioned almost silently._

_"I am the sun," he said back, and Delilah didn't think that answer was strange at all; he seemed so warm and bright that he_ could've _been the sun, for all she knew. "And you are Delilah."_

_"Yes," she agreed, puzzled at his knowledge of her name. "How did you know?"_

_"I know everything about you," he answered immediately._

_"Why?" she questioned, less timidly than she normally would have._

_"Just because," he told her easily._

_Delilah smiled a little, tilting her head. "You're funny," she said to him, finding the courage to say it because she somehow knew he would not be offended. He laughed at that, and Delilah smiled a little more, becoming more comfortable with this stranger who claimed to be the sun._

_Suddenly, the fierce winter wind was upon them, and Delilah shivered, her body trembling from the bitter cold. The boy seemed to notice, and he held her tighter to his warm chest. But there was no need for the protection, because after a few moments, the wind died down completely, and it became warm. Stormy clouds fled the sky in a hurry, leaving nothing in their wake but a wide expanse of blue too beautiful to describe accurately with words. Great, big trees grew up from saplings into adults, towering around them as the sun glowed immensely brighter, the snow melting away and leaving nothing but spring flowers and newly grown grass sprinkled with tiny diamond dewdrops._

_The boy seemed unsurprised by the sudden and unexplainable change in seasons, calmly striding over to a patch of bluebells and carefully sitting down amongst them with her still in his huge arms. The droopy flowers bloomed all around them, and Delilah found herself mesmerized by their pretty color. She looked up at the boy, curious to see what his reaction to the flowers was, but he was looking at her instead, and his eyes were filled with such pure adoration that Delilah was a little scared. It reminded her of how Carlisle looked at Esme, how Emmett looked at Rosalie, how Jasper and Alice looked at each other._

_But there was something else in the stare too, a kind of love that would take the form of a big brother if that was what she needed, or a best friend, or a protector. Delilah felt her fear begin to dissipate as it became clear that the boy in her dream did not intend to hurt her, that he only wanted her to be safe and sound. She smiled at him as they sat peacefully amongst the flowers... _

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><p>Edward stood at Delilah's doorway, feeling slightly disturbed at the girl's current dream. He didn't think it was normal for a little girl to have dreams about an older boy, but then again, Delilah wasn't exactly normal, and besides, she had a high fever; she was probably close to the point of hallucination. Still, something about the boy irked Edward- he didn't seem natural, but at the same time, Edward knew he wasn't a vampire.<p>

After a moment of contemplation, he reluctantly shook his head at himself and how ridiculous he was being. It was only a dream, brought on by an extremely high fever and a little girl's overactive imagination. It was nothing more.

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><p>It took a long time and some patience, but Delilah finally began to get recover from her pneumonia. Her appetite had returned- well, as much of an appetite as Delilah could have, anyway- and she was visibly stronger. She no longer had coughing fits, and her fever was long gone.<p>

To say that the Cullens were immensely relieved at the turn of events would be an understatement. The tension in the household seemed to have disappeared completely, and the very air they breathed seemed somehow lighter.

On the first day Delilah was able to be up and about again, the only people home were Rosalie and Emmett; Edward, Alice, and Jasper had gone to school in order to keep up the pretense of being normal teenagers, claiming that Rosalie and Emmett were sick with the flu, and Carlisle and Esme had gone shopping for groceries, unaware that in the few short hours they were gone, the little girl would make a complete recovery.

Delilah woke feeling rested for the first time in a long time, and her body no longer felt too heavy to lift. She rolled out of bed, stumbling a little when her feet it the floor.

Suddenly Rosalie was there, helping her to stand up straight. "Sweetie, you really shouldn't be out of bed," she said, putting a cold hand to the girl's forehead.

"But I feel better now," Delilah said, and indeed, her head was no longer warm with fever; it felt completely normal.

Ecstatic that the fever had finally broken, Rosalie picked the little girl up in her arms and hugged her close, laughing almost hysterically. Emmett stopped abruptly where he had been passing by Delilah's room and peeked around the door tentatively.

"Babe, are you okay?" he asked, wondering about her mental health.

Rosalie put Delilah down gently before she turned to Emmett, her face glowing with relief. "Her fever's broken!"

A slow smile spread across Emmett's face, and he picked the little girl up and ruffled her smooth, strawberry locks.

"I feel better," Delilah said happily, Rosalie's enthusiasm becoming contagious.

"That's great, Lila Jo," Emmett said cheerfully. "Now you can play football with me," he added, winking at her conspiratorially when Rosalie instantly began to scold him.

* * *

><p>Normally, Delilah was a very shy girl, but she had spent so much time in her bed over the winter that she couldn't wait to see the other children. Delilah hadn't made a lot of friends at school, since her odd appearance and her quiet disposition made most children wary of her, and despite the fact that she had made friends just fine while they had been in Hawaii, Delilah was far from popular in the town they'd been living in recently; when she came home every day, Edward saw in her thoughts the taunts and teases that she endured on a regular basis. Most of it was just the normal teasing and picking that children tend to do, but it hurt the sensitive little girl's feelings all the same. Delilah refused to tattle on anyone to a teacher, though that likely would have made them stop. Instead, she endured the taunts silently. That is, until one day in the early Spring.<p>

At the bell for recess, Delilah stood slowly, letting all the children run ahead of her, some of them bumping into her accidentally in their hurry to get outside to the playground. She went out too, but instead of climbing on things and running and yelling, she sat herself down at the foot of a large, old oak tree, taking in the sunshine.

To say that she was frightened by the sudden appearance of four menacing-looking sixth grade boys would be an understatement. The one in the middle, who was the biggest and appeared to be the ring-leader, walked up to her, standing a few feet away and faking an innocent, inquiring expression.

"Aww," he cooed. "Did Lila get all better from being sick?" Delilah, feeling pale, nodded quietly.

"Aww, did you guys hear that?" the boy said sarcastically. "Wittle Lila is _awwwwl_ better!" The boys all began laughing at her, and Delilah tried hard not to cry as she stared at the ground, pulling up little blades of grass with her fingers.

"Awww," the boy said again. "Did we make little Delilah sad?" They laughed more, and Delilah bowed her head, wanting nothing more than for them to leave her alone.

"Is little Delilah gonna go home and tell her mommy about it?" the boy teased, ruffling her hair. Delilah shivered, not used to such contact from anyone other than her family.

"No?"

Delilah shook her head.

"I thought so. Because Delilah's a skinny little freak, just like her whole entire family." Delilah's head snapped up, and she felt angry.

"My family aren't freaks," she said quietly.

Another boy snorted. "Of course they are! Haven't you ever noticed how they're all really pale and have the same color eyes? And my sister goes to school with your sisters, and she says that their skin is super cold all the time. They're all freaks, and you're a freak too!"

"Shut up! They're not freaks!" Delilah cried suddenly, brushing away her tears and standing up to face the boy even though she was scared and shaking at the prospect.

"Are too! Even your parents are freaks, you know. You don't even call them mom and dad."

"So?" Delilah felt her face getting flushed.

"My dad told me that your dad works all night and almost all day, and he only comes home for a few hours. My dad says he probably doesn't even sleep! He also said that your mom is _real_ pretty, said there's a chance she might've been a whore before she was your mom."

Forgetting everything that her family had ever told her about being gentle and patient and not using violence for anything, Delilah threw herself at the boy, her tiny hands forming fists and beating into the boy's surprised face with surprising strength. She heard the boy's friends yelling as they went to go tell a teacher, but Delilah didn't care. She just kept on beating and scratching his face. The boy fell down to the ground, but still she kept hitting him, occasionally kicking him too.

Suddenly, two hands had grabbed her under the arms and lifted her off of the boy, who just laid there, crying, his nose bleeding and his face bruising all over. Delilah felt tears running down her face too as she followed the teacher who had come to the boy's aid through the crowd of gawking children.

She had followed the teacher all the way to the principal's office before she finally realized the full extent of what she'd done, and the tears flowed more freely, pouring down her face. She did not make any noise as she waited for Esme to pick her up.

When Esme walked into the room, Delilah could tell that she was extremely disappointed in her, and maybe even a little angry, though Esme seldom was angry with her over anything. Delilah sat silently the whole time the principal was discussing what she'd done with Esme, and she silently followed behind Esme as they made their way to the car. She buckled her seat belt, avoiding her mother's eyes, her own eyes still leaking big, fat, shameful tears.

When they got home, Carlisle was there waiting form them, having come home from the hospital for lunch so he could keep up the pretense of being human. He was standing in the family room when they walked in, Delilah shuffling in slowly after Esme. Carlisle turned to Esme.

"What's happened?" he asked, his brow creasing in worry when he saw Delilah's tears.

"Sweetie," Esme said gently, glancing at Delilah. "I think you should go to your room for a few minutes." Delilah nodded, her guilt weighing down on her as she climbed the stairs slowly to the second floor.

* * *

><p>She stayed in her room for a long time, hesitant to come out before Esme told her to, lest she get a scolding. She knew that eventually, Esme and Carlisle would call her down to the family room to get the story out of he, and she contemplated what she would do then.<p>

She knew she couldn't tell them what that awful boy had said about them, especially Esme. Esme was such a gentle person, so caring and loving; the fact that someone had called her that dreadful name would surely hurt her feelings. Delilah didn't know exactly what the word meant, but she knew it wasn't good by any means. She resolved not to tell them about that part.

Not too long after she had come to this conclusion, her door was pushed open softly, and Alice poked her head into the little girl's room.

"Alice?" Delilah asked, confused at the sudden appearance of her sister, who was supposed to be in school for another hour.

Alice shrugged the girl's curiosity off. "Emmett got injured trying to play football in the cafeteria," she said, lying through her teeth. "He's fine, but the nurse told him to go home, and the rest of us decided to come with, since school was almost over, anyway." She knew that the lie sounded too fake, but the girl seemed to buy it.

"Oh," Delilah murmured, wiping some of the tears from her eyes.

Alice's face turned somber. "I heard you got in trouble today."

Delilah hung her head, ashamed. She nodded slightly.

Suddenly, Esme stood in the doorway. "Darling, could you come downstairs and talk to me for a moment?" Delilah nodded again, following tentatively behind Esme as they made their way to the family room, where Carlisle was waiting for them.

Surprisingly, Edward was also there, standing near the grand piano with a contemplative look on his face. Delilah was surprised to see him; Edward usually did not spend a lot of time with her, or even near her. She saw him almost cringe suddenly, and she wondered what was wrong. But in the next moment, he had turned back to the piano and she couldn't see his face anymore.

Carlisle took a seat on the plush, expensive sofa, beckoning Delilah over to sit next to him. She shuffled over slowly, feeling nervous and wishing Jasper was in the room with them. Esme sat on the couch too, so that Delilah was in between the two of them, and even though she knew it was ridiculous to be afraid of her mother and father, she felt almost trapped.

"Delilah," Esme said gently. "You know that what you did today was wrong, don't you?" Delilah nodded, tears swimming in her eyes once more as the shame weighed down on her.

"Why did you hurt that boy?" Delilah felt the tears spill over, trying to think of anything else but what had happened earlier that day.

Esme took her hand, and Carlisle gave her a gentle look. "We aren't trying to blame you, Delilah," he said. "We just want to know what's going on."

Taking a deep, shuddering breath, she swiped at her eyes furiously. "He was being mean. He was making fun of me," she said quietly.

"You know that's no reason to hit. We never hit anyone, Delilah Josephine," Carlisle said, feeling slightly guilty about using her middle name when she was so obviously upset. He was upset too, at the fact that an older boy had made fun of such a precious little thing like Delilah.

But he wanted to impress upon her the wrongness of what she'd done. She had to learn, otherwise there was a chance that it would happen again, and he didn't want her getting hurt picking fights with people who were bigger and stronger than her.

Delilah cried even more, desperately trying to think of anything but that word, trying to keep the wretched, traitorous tears at bay.

"Delilah," Esme said softly. "Something else happened, didn't it?"

"...Yes," Delilah said. "He said we were all freaks. And he said... his dad said... something about Esme..."

"Yes?" Esme questioned.

"But I can't tell you," Delilah said regretfully, not wanting her mother to become angry with her. She noticed absentmindedly that Edward had stiffened.

"Can you tell Carlisle?" Esme asked. Delilah reluctantly nodded, and leaned toward Carlisle to whisper in his ear.

"Delilah-" Edward had turned around, his face pinched, but Delilah had already whispered the word into Carlisle's listening ear.

Immediately, his face froze, and his whole body stiffened. The hand that had laid on the wooden arm of the sofa clenched, and he splintered it in his fingers. Delilah leaned away from him into Esme, afraid at the sudden act of aggression from the usually gentle man.

Esme reached over the little girl to lay a hand on her husband's arm. "Carlisle," she said placidly. "It's okay."

The man visibly tried to calm himself, succeeding only after he saw the cowed look in Delilah's eye and the soft expression on his wife's face. He gently placed a hand on Delilah's soft curls, trying to ease her fright.

"I see. Delilah, why don't you go upstairs and see what Jasper's doing?" Delilah nodded timidly, sliding off of the sofa and running up the staircase as quickly and as silently as she could.

Edward sighed. "There's more. He also said some things about our family in general. People are starting to suspect, Carlisle - we won't be able to keep them in the dark forever."

"It looks as if we'll have to relocate again," Carlisle said wearily.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So I'm aware that this just kind of cuts off abruptly, but I had to stop the chapter somewhere, and I just couldn't find the right place! Anyway, leave me a review and let me know what you think!<strong>

**Also, If any of you guys ever want to get a hold of me, because I won't always have access to this site, you can use the email that I use for writing purposes. It's called My Super Awesome User Name at gmail . com (but remove the spaces and put an actual 'at' sign) and you guys can pretty much always get a response from me there. You can send me writing suggestions for my fanfics, requests for fics you think I should write (though I might not always comply), and even fan-drawings of one of my OC's if you want; I have to admit, I'm really curious to see what you think Delilah looks like! **


	14. The Truth

**AN: Heads up: Delilah does a lot of deep thinking in this chapter! Also, this is the last chapter before we skip ahead to Forks! Yay! Finally getting to the action! XD**

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><p>Delilah quietly knocked on Jasper and Alice's bedroom door, hesitant to bother them. Alice opened the door for her, taking her hand and leading her over to the little sofa she had placed in their room. Delilah spotted Jasper sitting there, and she almost instantly felt a lot better than she had been feeling just a moment ago.<p>

She let Alice pull her down to sit on her lap, though it wasn't the most comfortable seat in the world because of her sister's hard skin.

Alice wiped the remaining tears from Delilah's face. "Don't worry," she said positively. "They won't be able to stay angry at you for long, trust me."

Delilah just nodded, leaning back against her sister's cold body.

* * *

><p>Later that night, as Delilah laid in bed, she found that she was having a hard time falling to sleep. She turned over on her back, looking up at the off-white ceiling above her. Her mind focused in on the conversation she'd had with the older boy.<p>

Her family's skin _was_ cold, and their eyes _were_ all the same color. She didn't know how she hadn't noticed before now, but all the differences between her and her family suddenly seemed magnified and obvious.

Had what that boy had said been true? Were they all freaks? Was _she_ a freak? Her first instinct was to say that _no_, she was perfectly normal. But was she really? She never felt very well and she was always weak and she was smaller than other nine-year-old children. Adding to that, there was just this feeling like there was something very different about her, about all of them actually. She resolved to ask her parents about it the next day.

But confronting Carlisle and Esme proved to be a lot more difficult than Delilah had initially planned. Every time she felt like it was the right moment, she would chicken out and not say anything.

But she felt she had to say something, sooner rather than later. So one day when Rosalie and Alice were out shopping and Emmett and Jasper and Edward were nowhere to be seen, she made her move.

Esme was in the kitchen making dinner for her- had she ever even seen Esme eat anything?- and Carlisle was in the next room watching the news.

"Esme," she said tentatively, watching as her mother turned from her vegetable-chopping to look at her.

"Darling?"

"I have to talk to you… to both of you… about something."

She trailed her fingernails across the countertop, looking at the sparkly blue nail polish Rosalie had painted on them. Rosalie had wanted to paint them pink, but Delilah had thought the blue looked so much better. Maybe that was her favorite color- yes, she thought it was.

Carlisle had come into the kitchen by then, and he put a hand on her shoulder. She turned around and stared at them both, taking in their beautiful, pale faces and gold eyes. When she finally got up the courage, she uttered the only words she could bring herself to say.

"You're different."

The two of them immediately glanced at each other, proving Delilah correct in her assumption that they were keeping something from her, and then Carlisle kneeled down onto the pristine white linoleum floor so he could be at her level.

"Yes," he said evenly. "We are."

"What are you?" she asked, then looked down at her shoes because she was sure that what she'd said had been very rude and that they would rebuke her. But they didn't seem to mind how rude the question was.

"Oh honey," Esme exhaled, looking sad, and Delilah almost wanted to just let them keep the secret. Almost.

Carlisle must have noticed the determination on her features. "We are vampires," he said slowly, honestly.

Delilah felt her eyes widen, and she backed away a little. She had never really known much about vampires, but she knew one thing for sure. "You drink blood?"

"Not in the way you think, darling," Esme said, kneeling down too and touching her face softly with a cold hand.

"How?"

"We drink animal blood instead of human blood," Carlisle explained.

Delilah nodded timidly, feeling frozen on the inside. "And Jasper and Rosalie and the others?"

"Them as well," Carlisle confirmed gently.

"Oh," was all she could say.

"Oh darling," Esme said sadly, taking Delilah's hands in her cold ones and rubbing them with her thumbs. "We should have told you earlier."

Delilah swallowed hard. "It's okay. But what's wrong with _me_?"

"What do you mean?" Carlisle asked her, watching her face carefully.

"I'm different, too."

"Yes, you are," he said. "But we don't quite know what exactly makes you different."

"Oh," she murmured again.

"But listen, Honey," Esme said gently. "This doesn't change anything. We still love you more than the world, just as we always have. You know that we would never, _ever_ hurt you."

Delilah nodded. "I know. Can I go back up to my room now, please?"

Carlisle and Esme stood, and Esme's face looked a little hurt, but she nodded.

"Of course you can, Delilah," Carlisle said.

Delilah walked quickly out of the room, then began running when she reached the stairs to the second floor. She ran all the way up to her bedroom and leapt into her bed, pulling up the covers until only her face was poking out.

She couldn't believe it. Her whole family were vampires. Jasper was a vampire and Rosalie was a vampire and Alice was a vampire… _All_ of them were vampires. She'd known there was something to what that mean boy had said about her family being different, but she never could have even imagined that it would be this. How had she not noticed anything before?

She tried to still her fluttering heart, wondering if they could hear what she was doing at this very moment. Then she couldn't help but feel a little guilty underneath her uneasiness. Why did she care if Esme and Carlisle could hear her? She had nothing to hide- ever since she could remember, she'd shared everything with her family.

She recalled the hurt look on Esme's face when she had abruptly left the kitchen, and she felt her fear slip away. Esme hadn't wanted to tell her what they were not because of any untrustworthy intent, Delilah now realized, but because she didn't want her to be afraid. And hadn't they said that they would never hurt her? As long as she could remember, Delilah had not been dealt any harm coming from the Cullens, had never so much as gotten a bruise while in their care.

It was not long before Alice and Rosalie returned from their shopping trip, and Jasper and Emmett and Edward got home not long after. She could just barely hear them walking through the door, and that was her only clue that they had returned.

She wondered if they were down there talking about her. She couldn't hear anything because they were very quiet when they walked and when they were talking about her. How had she never noticed that before? The answer came to her right away; she hadn't wanted to believe that there was anything wrong with her family. Even though there had always been a tiny voice in the back of her mind questioning everything the Cullens did and how they did it, she had pushed that voice away until it was just a ghost of a memory of a thought and she had made herself blind to what should have been obvious.

She briefly entertained the thought of going downstairs to say sorry to Esme for hurting her feelings, but she remained in her bed, too nervous to go down and face them all. She wished she'd never asked Esme and Carlisle, that she could go back in time and forget about the whole thing.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a soft knock at her door and Esme's gentle voice. "Delilah, would you like some dinner?"

Delilah murmured "Yes" underneath her blanket, and was quite surprised when Esme heard her and opened the door. So they _could_ hear her when she was extra quiet.

Esme brought in a bowl of soup and set it on Delilah's bedside table, warning her that it had not completely cooled off and to please be careful not to burn her tongue. Delilah watched the door for a moment after Esme had left, wondering at the fact that a vampire could be a person as nice as Esme.

Maybe it could all be okay. Maybe she could learn to be okay with what they were.

* * *

><p>Esme made her way back downstairs to the others, a frown on her face. Carlisle took her in his arms.<p>

"She'll come around, darling."

"You saw the look on her face, Carlisle. She was scared of me."

"Us," Carlisle corrected her. "Because of what we are. But you know she loves you."

Jasper shifted from his stance facing the window. "She felt guilty for hurting you."

"She won't be scared for long, Esme, I know it," Alice said encouragingly.

Rosalie jumped in. "She's just confused right now- she probably doesn't know how to feel." She offered her hand to Esme, who took it gratefully with a wan smile.

"I hope so."

The next morning, when Esme went up to check on Delilah, she found the girl asleep in her bed, the bowl of soup half eaten. She stopped for a moment to brush her fingers across the little girl's forehead, pulling away when Delilah started to stir.

She picked up the bowl and began to leave but was stopped by her daughter's voice.

"Wait."

When she turned from the door, Delilah was rubbing the sleep from her eyes and clambering out of her bed.

"Esme, I'm sorry I hurt your feelings."

"Darling," Esme said, half laughing. "It's alright."

Delilah hesitated a moment, then put her arms around Esme's waist, and the woman felt like an enormous weight had been lifted. In that moment, Esme knew that everything would be just fine.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So... review please? XD<strong>


	15. A Vision

**AN: Hey guys! Aren't you happy that didn't take _forever_ to update this time?** **:D By the way, pretty sure the Cullens went to Alaska when they left Bella, but in my version, they went to France. Why? Because it suits my plot! XD**

* * *

><p>Delilah gazed out the window of Alice's sleek black car. She'd only been back in Forks for a few months, and already Delilah couldn't help feeling glum everyday when she looked out the window. She couldn't remember back to when they had lived in Alaska, but she was fairly certain there had to have been more sun there. She knew that the Cullens needed to have less sun than her because of their skin, but it seemed like they had picked the one town in the US that had never seen any sun at all.<p>

When they had first moved there, Delilah had quite disliked the fact that there was no sun, but for the Cullens, it was a wonderful perk. It was good for them.

And besides, there was no way they'd be leaving now if Edward could help it. A couple years after they had moved in, Edward had left town for a few days because of the Sheriff's daughter, Bella Swan, whom he apparently couldn't control himself around. Shortly after, however, he had fallen in love with her and the two were practically inseparable.

Until the birthday party incident. Jasper had lost all control and tried to attack Bella because she'd gotten cut on Esme's and Carlisle's birthday gift. After that, the Cullens had decided that it was best to leave town because Edward didn't want Bella's life to be in danger.

They'd stayed in France until March of the following year, when Alice had left suddenly one day with a frantic explanation to the others in words that came out too quickly for Delilah to understand. Somehow, Alice and Bella had ended up in Volterra, Italy where the Volturi resided, and had saved Edward's lif- _existence_. Delilah had the feeling she wasn't being told everything that had happened. Sometimes she still felt like she was completely in the dark when it came to her family.

Sighing quietly, she glanced at Alice and Jasper in the front seat. Jasper turned around to look at her. "Don't be so glum," he said, sending calming waves of emotion to her.

If it had been anyone else, Delilah would have resented the fact that they were trying to control her emotions, but Jasper was different. So she just leaned back and let the waves roll over her.

"Don't worry," Alice chirped. "You'll feel better once you see your friends."

"I guess so," Delilah murmured, feeling a little guilt behind all of Jasper's calmness because she was complaining so much. All the Cullens had been trying to do since she'd come back was make her feel comfortable, and here she was complaining.

It's not that she wasn't happy that Bella was a part of their life again, or that she could see her friends again. It was just that… well, something didn't feel quite right, and the feeling of dread made her nervous.

* * *

><p>In her first period class, Delilah made her way quickly to a seat in the back of the room that she'd claimed for herself.<p>

"Hey Lila, can I borrow a pencil?"

Delilah looked up and smiled. She'd met Basil when they'd first moved to Forks, and the two had become friends almost right away. Basil was a bit of a loner, like her, and their hair could technically be classified as close to the same color, but that was where the similarities ended.

Unlike Delilah's strawberry blond, wispy locks, Basil's hair was a bright, fire engine red and was so wildly curly that it stuck up all over the place. While Delilah was on the introverted side, Basil always spoke her mind, which was something that had gotten her into trouble on more than one occasion. Delilah always dressed in clothes that Alice and Rosalie thought looked nice (i.e., pastel colored, girly little things), but Basil pushed the boundaries to the extreme when it came to fashion. That day she had donned a bright green tank top and a pair of yellow shorts. Under that layer, she had worn a long-sleeved leopard print shirt and purple paisley leggings. On her feet were a pair of green rain boots. An to top it all off, an overly large white bow had been clipped into her hair.

And somehow, despite all of those differences, the two of them had managed to become best friends.

Delilah handed over a pencil.

"I owe you my life, Lila!"

Delilah nodded in reply, cracking a smile. "Hardly."

Basil scribbled down the last of the vocabulary terms the class had been assigned and sighed gustily. "There. Finished, finally! You done, Lila?"

Delilah nodded. "Carlisle and Esme wouldn't let me do anything at home until it was done."

What she didn't say was that it hadn't even been that big of a problem- since Carlisle had made her enroll in the sixth grade when they'd moved here, even though she'd been thirteen and had already been in the sixth grade _and_ the seventh, her school work had always been almost ridiculously easy. She was a freshman at Forks High now, and even though she knew that if she'd gone straight to the eighth grade like she should have she never would have made friends with Basil, she sometimes wished Carlisle had let her stay in the grade where she belonged.

She knew why he'd done it, though- it was because of her stupid "uniqueness." She was sixteen now, and she still only looked like she was fourteen, fifteen at the most, something which bothered her to no end. She was tired of seeing people's questioning looks when she told them what her real age was. Also, it was embarrassing to admit that she was a sixteen-year-old in the ninth grade; she felt like everyone thought of her as stupid.

"Man," Basil said. "I still can't believe you call your parents by their names. How do they not get mad at you? If I did that to my mom, she would tell me off and ground me!"

Delilah laughed. "I've called them by their names for as long as I can remember, and they've always been okay with it. Besides, they're not actually my parents, remember? I guess it's different."

Basil snorted. "I'll say. No offence, Lila, but everything about your family is different. The biggest example being that you left for almost seven months to go to France last year… _and you actually came back_! If I'd gone to France for seven months, there's no way I would've come back to tiny little rain-filled _Forks_!"

"I think my family just needed a break from the rain," she lied. "But I guess maybe we all missed it more than we thought we would."

Basil looked indignant as the late bell rang and Mr. Campbell began to take up the finished assignments. She heard Basil whispering to herself in a high-pitched voice that was supposed to mimic hers.

"_'We missed Forks_!' _Pfft_. Whole family's crazy, every last one of 'em."

Delilah couldn't help the quiet laugh that escaped her. She could always count on Basil to brighten her mood.

* * *

><p>The rest of the morning dragged by slowly as always. Delilah fought the urge to sleep in each class. At least the second half of the day would be a little more entertaining; this year, Carlisle had allowed her one AP class. Of course, that class was Art, but as long as she would get to do material that she hadn't done before, Delilah wasn't complaining.<p>

At lunch, it was easy to spot Basil where she sat at their table in the middle of the cafeteria. Normally, such a popular table would have been riddled with upperclassmen, but it was the table right next to the one where Alice and Edward and Bella sat with their friends. Nobody really wanted to sit that close to the Cullens, so it had been easy for Basil to snag the table for them on the first day of school.

Of course, sitting near the Cullens had no effect whatsoever on Basil. She'd already met all of Delilah's family a few years before, and was almost more comfortable with them than Delilah herself was.

Looking up absentmindedly, she noticed that Bella was looking at her with veiled curiosity.

Bella knew that the Cullens were all vampires, and that the youngest of the family wasn't quite human, but apparently, it didn't even affect her. Delilah grimaced a little on the inside. She really did like Bella, but sometimes the girl just had the wrong reactions to everything. She was dating a _vampire_. It had taken Delilah years to feel completely comfortable in the Cullens' company again after she had found out!

Maybe Bella just didn't have that thing in her head that was supposed to tell her when something was dangerous. After all, like Emmett said, Bella was a walking fire hazard… and an _everything-else-that-can-cause-a-human-harm_ hazard.

Edward smirked at her from their table when he heard her thoughts, and she smiled slightly back. Then she saw Angela waving a hand in front of Alice's face. Delilah's eyes snapped up to her sister's motionless face. She knew that look- it meant that Alice was having a vision. Edward said something teasingly, covering up for the fact that their sister had just frozen in the middle of talking and was staring off into space. Delilah saw Alice's eyes snap back to the present.

"Lila!" Delilah jumped as Basil snapped two ring-adorned fingers in front of her face. "Quit staring at your siblings and eat something for once! A person would think you were anorexic or something."

Delilah stopped moving her food around on her plate and forced herself to take a bite of her mashed potatoes. She fought not to spit them out immediately. She still didn't like many foods, _especially_ foods from the school cafeteria.

"Anyway," Basil continued. "Aren't you glad we're done with that stupid family project in Art?"

Delilah smiled. "I actually liked it- it was fun."

Basil groaned. "That's because you have like, _the most perfect family to draw_. I am _so_ done with trying to sketch the little twerp. The only time he's not running around barking is when he's sleeping or picking his nose. And then when I finally got him to sit still, he insisted that I draw him as a _Siberian husky_."

Basil's little brother, Jay, was seven, and had somehow gotten the idea in his head when he was five that he was part dog. Ever since then, Delilah had not been able to go to Basil's house without the eccentric boy barking when she rang the doorbell.

"And don't get me started on my mom! I told her I needed to draw her for a project, and she totally went all seventies on me again… spent an hour digging her old bellbottoms out of the closet."

Delilah giggled. "And she actually put them on?"

"I'm telling you Lila, you have no idea how lucky you are to have the Cullens for a family. I am _so jealous_ of you. I mean, just think what could have happened if you and I were in opposite places! Right now, I would have the cool family members that look like models, and you would be living with a seven-year-old who thinks he's a sled dog and a woman who's perpetually stuck in the glory days and probably isn't going to make an appearance in this decade any time soon."

* * *

><p>Delilah walked into Art class with no small amount of anticipation weighing on her mind. It was her last class of the day, and she was looking forward to finding out what Alice had seen.<p>

Ever since she'd known about Alice, Edward, and Jasper's abilities, she'd always been interested in Alice's sight. According to Alice, Delilah's future couldn't be seen. Carlisle said it was because of her uniqueness. Coming from a human, that might have made her feel special.

Coming from a _vampire_, it kind of stung a little.

And the worst part was, she herself didn't even know what she was. How was it possible that someone could be something and not know what that something was? While she definitely wasn't a vampire, she wasn't completely human either. It was something she often wondered about, and it was what she was wondering about when she sat down in her usual seat by the window. She liked being near the window, watching the birds and squirrels in the trees, the clouds in the sky (the sky was never clear in Forks).

"You know, when you sit next to the window like that, your skin gives off this radiant glow… almost like you're an _angel_."

Delilah resisted the urge to roll her eyes as Zach Davis slid into the seat next to her. Delilah had known Zach for as long as she'd known Basil, and she'd never really liked him- he was always saying and doing stupid things.

"How about me and you go to a movie this weekend. My mom can drive us to Port Angeles." He wiggled his eyebrows.

Luckily, at that moment, Basil slapped him in the back of his head with her Art folder. "Zachary Harold Davis, if you don't stop flirting with my best friend, I'll tell Aunt Lisa that you were the one who scratched her old _Beatles_ album."

Zach groaned. "Fine," he grumbled, sliding out of the seat and slinking off to sit with his friends.

Basil took his seat. "Was dearest cousin Zach bothering you again?"

Delilah nodded. "You have the most perfect timing."

* * *

><p>After school Basil invited Delilah to her house. Of course, when it came from Basil it wasn't really an invitation, more of a demand. "Take the bus home with me for once," the redhead whined.<p>

Delilah smiled. "Sorry, but I have to ride home with Edward and Alice and Bella today. I have to talk to Alice about something."

Basil glared at her, lip sticking out comically. "I can't believe you're making me sit alone on the bus with my cousin and his idiot friends. You will remember this day, Delilah Cullen. You'll remember it as the day you abandoned your best friend, as the day you turned your back on me. I am _so_ going to hate you forever."

Delilah rolled her eyes. "You're not very convincing."

Basil looked digruntled. "Really? What did it? I thought I had it in the bag. I mean, I used your whole name and everything, and I haven't called you by your whole name since the week you moved here!"

"It was a little overly dramatic," Delilah admitted.

"Ohh. Well, the bus will be leaving soon, and that big shiny Volvo is sure to be waiting for you!" She waved wildly as she ran off to join the other kids waiting for the bus.

Delilah rolled her eyes once more. Riding in a Volvo was not that big a deal. When she got to Edward's car, she found that they were all waiting on her. "Sorry," she said as she sat in the back with Alice.

"Delilah," Alice said. "We were just talking about Mike Newton's car. Edward offered to help him fix it up. Maybe we can send Rosalie over there first just to get a look at it."

Delilah nodded her head. Edward really wasn't all that good with car engines. "That's a good idea," she agreed, cracking a small smile when Edward looked slightly uncomfortable- he must have wanted to impress Bella.

The rest of the way home, Bella, Edward, and Delilah were mostly silent.

The same could not be said for Alice.

"So Delilah, I was thinking about taking you and Rosalie to Port Angeles for the weekend to go shopping. I've been itching to buy something lately, but the options here in Forks are so limited! We can all get a couple of new outfits- it'll be good for us, a nice change. And maybe afterwards we could go to that restaurant that just opened on _Baker Avenue_. I heard that the food there is delicious, so I think we should go there so you can try something because you are way too skinny as it is and I am determined to get you to eat something for a change-"

Delilah sat looking forward, nodding dutifully at everything Alice said even though she wasn't really listening. There was something wrong. Alice did tend to ramble on sometimes, but this was a different kind of rambling.

_She's covering up for something. She must have seen something bad in her vision._ She saw Edward glance at her in the rearview mirror and knew that she had guessed right.

She knew that if her family had it their way, they would hold off on telling her what Alice had seen until there was no other option, but Delilah vowed to make things different this time- she would find out what had been in the vision, if it was the last thing she did.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So did you guys like Basil so far? I have to admit, it's nice to have some good comic relief! <strong>

**Anyway, I think I told a few of you guys that Paul would be appearing in this chapter, and I totally intended for him to at least make a small appearance! But the chapter just got so long that I had to chop it in half. XD **

**I still haven't finished writing the next chapter yet, so it might take about a week and a half, give or take, to update (just thought I'd let you guys know). ;P**


	16. In a Second

"Jay! Get out of my room now!"

Delilah sat cross-legged on Basil's chaotic bed, watching as she tried to shoo her brother out the door.

Jay whined like a dog. "But I want to stay in here with you guys!"

"_Why_?" Basil said loudly, exasperated. "All we're gonna be doing is talking about girl stuff!"

"What do you mean?" Jay asked curiously, his head cocking to the side.

Basil sighed dramatically, then a mischievous gleam appeared in her eye. "You know, cute boys and celebrity couples and baking and _tampons_ and-"

"Okay, okay!" Jay cried. "I'm leaving!" He ran out of the room on all fours, kicking the door shut behind him.

"Okay, now we can talk freely," Basil said flopping down on her bed beside Delilah.

"What about?" Delilah asked.

"Boyfriends, for one. You and me promised each other that by the time we were in high school we would both have boyfriends.

"I never promised you that."

"Fine, _I_ promised _you_. Anyway, I have to keep that promise. You and me are gonna get boyfriends."

Delilah raised an eyebrow, smiling slightly. "And how do you suppose we do that? Wave a magic wand and hope for the best?"

Basil threw a pillow at her. "_No_. We have to start going to parties and clubs and stuff- that way we can meet all the cute boys we want. Boy, Lila, for someone so smart, you sure are stupid when it comes to these things."

Delilah shook her head at her friend. "Whatever you say. Besides, it's not like boys will flock to us just because we're in a club. If anything, we'll look plain compared to every other older girl there."

Basil sat up indignantly. "_Plain_? Are you kidding me? Have you not looked in a mirror lately? No matter how much you try to deny it, you're pretty. And let's face it, I'm _gorgeous_! The only reason the boys here aren't jumping all over us is because they've known us for so long- they still see us as the little girls we used to be. But the guys out _there_-" she gestured in a general northern direction "-will totally see our beauty!"

Delilah laughed. "You're crazy."

Basil glared at her. "Whatever. Just watch, you and me are going to have boyfriends if it's the last thing I do!"

Suddenly, there was a loud crash from downstairs, followed by a wail.

Basil jumped off the bed, Delilah at her heels as they raced down the stairs to see what had happened. In the living room, Jay was laying on the floor, his head stuck in Basil's mom's only valuable vase.

"Oh my God!" Basil exclaimed. "Are you okay, Jay?"

He tried to nod his head, but the vase just slid further down. Basil and Delilah kneeled down on the floor, trying to figure out a way to get the vase off of Jay's head without hurting him.

"How _on earth_ did you do this?" Basil grunted as she pulled at it. All they heard was a bunch of muffled yells, and Delilah stopped pulling.

"Maybe we should call your mom."

"Seriously? She'll freak out and I'll be grounded for _years_!"

"Well we're obviously not going to get it off ourselves," Delilah reasoned, trying to stay calm.

Basil suddenly stopped pulling too. "Wait! What about butter?"

Delilah stood. "I'll go get it." She ran to the kitchen and pulled the tub of butter out of them fridge, then returned to them, and the two girls began to pile butter in between the lip of the vase and Jay's jaw. Then they tried to pull the vase of again, but all they succeeded in doing was make Jay cry out in pain.

Eventually, Basil gave in and called her mother, who sent an ambulance to the house to pick the three of them up. Jay seemed less upset by the vase lodged on his head and more excited because the EMT let him lay on the gurney.

Basil's mother was waiting for them when they got to the hospital. She ended up tapping the vase with a small hammer, which made a crack in the side that enabled them to get Jay's head out in no time.

Basil, who was standing in the doorway with Delilah, smacked herself in the forehead. "Why didn't we think of that? I feel stupid now," she said.

"Me too," Delilah admitted.

As Jay tried to wipe the butter off of his head and neck, Basil's mother finished throwing away the two pieces of her antique vase. "This is why we cannot have nice things. Delilah, I think it's about time for you to leave. Would you like a ride home?"

"Yes please," Delilah said.

"Alright, you stay here Basil, Butterhead. We're going to have a serious talk when I get back about why a _certain_ older sister wasn't watching her brother, and why a _certain_ little boy couldn't pick a _cheap_, _ugly_ vase to get his head stuck in."

* * *

><p>When they got to the turn in the road, Basil's mother made to pull the car into the long driveway, but Delilah stopped her. "That's okay, Ms. Davis. I can walk from here."<p>

"Are you sure, honey?"

"Yeah," Delilah said.

"Okay. Oh! Tell your father that I'll have that paperwork ready for him on Monday."

"Okay," Delilah said, shutting the car door and watching as Ms. Davis drove away.

She turned and began walking down the driveway, wondering who would come to walk the long driveway with her and keep her company. A member of her family, most likely Rosalie or Alice, would be there any moment, as they always were.

She was disappointed when she reached the halfway point of the driveway and still no one had come to meet her. What had happened? They usually heard her when she first set out walking, and by the halfway point, there was always at least one person walking with her. There was no way they hadn't heard Ms. Davis' clunky car with its noisy engine.

When she finally reached the house, she was surprised to find that there was no one there at all. She frowned. Where had they all gone? Then quite suddenly, she felt like a brat. Who was she to expect someone to be there to cater to her every whim? She had definitely become spoiled over the years.

She went up to her room on the second floor and dropped her backpack off there, flopping down on her bed and breathing deeply. It wasn't long before she became bored of that and began to wander through the house looking for something to do.

She hesitated for a moment in Carlisle's study, but didn't stay there. She'd mentally devoured all of the books in his personal collection a while ago. She briefly entertained the thought of watching TV, but she'd never really liked it all that much, to the extreme indignation of Basil, who watched it all the time.

She threw herself down on the sofa, intending to take a nap, but that idea flew out the window when she realized that she was far from tired. She furrowed her brow. Normally, she was dead tired at this time of day; she was something of an insomniac during the hours of the night, and often had to take catnaps in the afternoon to get the rest she needed. She sat up, feeling unusually restless. Maybe it would help to go for a walk.

She jumped up and threw on her jacket, setting out in the thick woods that surrounded the house. She had to debate for a bit which way to go. She decided on taking the path she often took, but ended up veering off course in the general direction of La Push.

Of course, Delilah wouldn't actually cross the border; she was well aware of the treaty between the Cullens and the wolf pack, and she wasn't about to go wandering around someplace where Esme or Rosalie wouldn't be able to come and get her. But she liked the scenery on the edge of the border better than that of the path she normally took.

She walked for a long time at an angle before she met with the border, and then she sat down on a fallen log to rest for a bit before she headed back to try that nap one more time.

It all happened so quickly.

All of a sudden, she heard something, a barely audible rustling somewhere near.

"_Delilah_!"

Her head snapped up to see who was calling her, and for a split second, she saw the fiery red hair, the blood red eyes, the hateful face of Victoria. She was right there, in front of her, close enough to-

And then, just in time, Emmett had snatched the vampire away from her. He tried to keep his hold on her, but she slipped away over the treaty line. Emmett went right after her, despite Rosalie's warning, and suddenly, there was a huge grey wolf, grabbing Emmett in its massive jaws and throwing him back over the line. Delilah watched them stare each other down, fearing that the large wolf would hurt Emmett.

Then Rosalie was holding her, and Esme was kneeling in front of her.

"Darling, are you hurt?"

At the sound of the question, the wolf looked up at them, and Delilah could just barely make out its eyes, small and unnoticeable compared to its massive body.

The wolf seemed to freeze as it looked at her, and Delilah felt like a deer in the headlights, the way he looked at her for an eternity, even though in all reality it was only a second. Delilah felt like she couldn't look away.

It was Carlisle who finally spoke, and his voice was carefully composed. "Rosalie, take Delilah home. We have things to discuss with the wolf pack."

"What about Victoria?" Esme questioned, a grim look on her face.

"She's long gone by now," Jasper said lowly, looking at the grey wolf strangely.

Rosalie helped Delilah to her feet and put an arm around her, picking her up and running through the forest until standing in front of the house, then she put Delilah down carefully. Delilah swayed dizzily for a moment; she had always hated the speed with which the Cullens ran.

She glanced sideways at Rosalie as they made their way into the house. "What happened back there, Rose?"

"Victoria happened," Rosalie said darkly.

"But why has she come back?" Delilah had a feeling she already knew the answer: revenge.

Rosalie sighed. "She wants to kill Bella so that Edward will feel the pain of losing his soul mate as she did."

So she had been right. "That's why Edward and Bella decided to visit Renee in Florida."

It wasn't even a question, but Rosalie nodded. "Come on," she said, leading Delilah into the kitchen and pouring her a glass of water. "When was the last time you even drank something?"

Delilah shrugged, taking the cup and gulping the water quickly.

Rosalie sighed. "You really should take better care of yourself when no one's around. You're always forgetting that you're human."

Delilah fought the urge to scowl as she stared forlornly into the empty glass in her hand. "Only a part, apparently."

All of a sudden, the expression of concern on Rosalie's face turned frosty. She pointed at Delilah's chest. "_Care to explain what that heart in your ribcage is doing right at this moment_?"

Delilah switched from staring at her glass to studying the countertop, feeling nervous in the face of Rosalie's anger. Rosalie _never_ got mad at her.

"It's beating," she said quietly.

"Exactly. As long as your heart is beating, you're human. Don't _ever_ try to deny that."

"I'm sorry," Delilah said contritely, her eyes feeling glassy. "I didn't mean to make you angry, Rose."

The anger in Rosalie's expression disappeared, leaving only resignation. "It's fine. I shouldn't have snapped at you. You just scared me tonight, that's all. I don't know what I would have done if Emmett hadn't been there to grab Victoria." She came around the counter and hugged Delilah close for a moment.

A feeling of guilt hit Delilah deep in her chest. "I shouldn't have gone on that walk. I scared everyone, and Emmett and that wolf almost got into a fight." Then a thought struck her. "Who _was_ that wolf, anyway? The grey one. It was staring at me."

"That was Paul," Rosalie spoke evenly, but Delilah heard the undercurrent of ice in her voice. "Just ignore him."

Delilah wrinkled her forehead in confusion. "But it was so strange- when he looked at me, I felt like I was trapped, like I wouldn't ever be able to look away."

"Like I said," Rosalie butted in quickly. "Ignore it."

Even so, Delilah had the nagging feeling that something extremely important had taken place that afternoon.

* * *

><p>"How dare you?" Emmett said angrily, advancing to the very edge of the border line.<p>

Paul, who had changed back to his human form and had been sitting in a daze, began to shake violently. "Do you think it's something I can help?"

"Paul!" Sam appeared half dressed and tossed Paul a pair of cutoff jeans. "Put these on." The rest of the pack stayed in wolf form, falling back to the edge of the forest.

While Paul wrestled the jeans on, Carlisle addressed Sam with a wary glint in his eye. "What does this mean?"

Sam sighed. "It's unfortunate, but it can't be helped. Paul imprinted on her."

"That doesn't change the fact that it's not safe for Delilah to be around him," Alice said, holding Jasper's hand in hers as she gazed at the scene before her.

"I would _never_ hurt her." Paul had gotten the shorts on and was standing completely still, a muscle jumping in his jaw.

"You don't know that," Sam said sternly, thinking automatically of Emily's face, half beautiful, half tragically disfigured.

"I think it would be best for Delilah if he stayed away from her for now," Carlisle said.

Paul's entire body stiffened. "I can't do that," he said in a strained voice.

Emmett bristled, baring his teeth. "Well you sure as hell aren't comin' anywhere near her while I'm around," he said loudly.

"Do you realize what you're asking?" Sam questioned Carlisle, ignoring Emmett's outburst even as one of the wolves behind them growled menacingly. "Forcing Paul to stay away from his imprint will only cause pain on both ends."

"Do you mean that Delilah is affected by it, too?" Esme questioned Sam, disturbed at the thought of Delilah in pain. She leaned into Carlisle, who put a comforting arm around her waist.

"An imprint is usually perceived by both parties, though the wolf feels it strongest," Sam answered her, face solemn.

"What if she doesn't feel it though?" Alice said reasonably. "After all, we know that Delilah's not exactly normal- she's always been different."

"I refuse to force Delilah into something she doesn't want," Carlisle said, his hand tightening where it rested on Esme's hip.

"Let her decide, then," Paul said, eyes intense, pleading. "If she doesn't want anything to do with me, I'll stay away."

Carlisle looked at him for a moment, compassion shining in his eyes despite his protective instinct for Delilah.

"So be it."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Yay! Paul's finally here, and he imprinted on Delilah! Bet you didn't see that one coming (sarcasm)! :P <strong>

**Anyway, feel free to leave me a review and tell me if you liked this chapter! Reviews make my day and encourage me to update sooner! :D**


	17. An Adventure

**AN: Okay, someone asked in a review how old Paul was in this story, and I realized quite suddenly that I didn't know for sure how old Paul was in the first place! So I did some researching on my handy dandy Google search engine, and I discovered that in New Moon, Paul is said to be sixteen. More or less, he should still be sixteen in Eclipse, depending on when his birthday is. So it turns out that Paul and Delilah are the same age, only Delilah looks younger than that and Paul looks older 'cause he's so buff ^_^**

**Anyway, sorry about the long rant! On with the story! :D **

**Oh, and by the way, I don't own McDonald's (you'll see what I mean later)!**

* * *

><p>"Basil, I really don't think this is a good idea," Delilah stressed, leaning against her locker. "You're grounded, remember?"<p>

Basil sighed loudly, pushing a wild curl out of her face impatiently. "I didn't say we had to do it tonight. It'll have to be more of a weekend trip type-thing. We can go on Friday- that's when my punishment ends. _Jeez…_ you'd think the little twerp would have gotten in trouble, but nooo… it was just, _'Don't get your head stuck in anymore vases, okay sweetie?_' Makes me sick."

Delilah rolled her eyes even though she knew that it wouldn't affect the redhead. "Alright, but who's going to go with us?"

"Why does anyone have to?" Basil complained. "You're sixteen. You have your license, remember? You can drive us!"

Delilah shifted uncomfortably. "You know I don't like driving all that well."

"Figures," Basil scoffed. "How is it that you're the only person in your family that doesn't have an addiction for driving fast… or driving _at all_?"

"Besides," Delilah quickly changed the subject. "I don't think our families would go for us spending the weekend in Seattle by ourselves."

"We could tell them that we're spending the night at each other's house!"

"Do you really think my parents would believe that?" Delilah snorted.

"I don't see why not. We _have_ to go! I have to meet some new guys or I'm absolutely gonna _die_!" Basil exclaimed, wrinkling her lip as some of her cousin's friends ran down the hallway, shouting out insults at each other and laughing manically.

Delilah scoffed, but couldn't help a slight giggle at her friend's overdramatic nature. "I guess I could try," she said reluctantly.

Basil clapped her hands, her chunky rings clicking together loudly as she did. "That's the spirit! This is so going to be so fun!"

Delilah laughed again, pushing off of her locker and opening it to grab her books. Somewhere in the real world, she was still talking to Basil, who was chattering on about how a spa would be so _moviestar-esque_ and how she couldn't wait to go to a party and meet boys and tons of other things that Delilah stopped listening for after a few moments. But she was mentally absent from the conversation.

She felt the strangest reluctance to leave Forks, even if it was only for the weekend, and she couldn't figure out exactly why. Could it be because of Victoria's presence there? But that couldn't be right- she knew fully well that Edward would do anything to keep Bella safe, and the brown-eyed girl would have the protection of the rest of the Cullens, and inadvertently, the wolves too.

The wolves. Or more specifically, _the_ wolf.

_Paul_.

It had been three days since the two of them had locked eyes, and she'd found that she couldn't stop wondering what had happened. Why had he stared at her like that? And why had she stared back? Based on what the Cullens had told her, Delilah had never really wanted _anything_ to do with the wolves. So why then did she suddenly get that weird feeling in her chest when Edward talked about Bella going to the reservation? She had no idea why she wanted to go along with Bella so much- there was nothing at the reservation for her. She didn't know anyone there, and they probably all resented her because of her connection to the Cullens. Why would she want to go someplace like that? All of them would look at her like she was the enemy.

Eventually, Basil had stopped jabbering, and the two headed to Art class. Basil pulled her to a stop in front of the classroom door when she saw that Zach was in there sitting on his desk and joking around with some of his friends. "Don't talk about this weekend in there," she reminded Delilah. "Zach will just tell my mom and we won't be able to go."

Instead, Basil waited until class was almost over, then slipped her a note.

_We can meet up in the school parking lot Friday afternoon, drive to Seattle, party like wild animals, and then be back by noon on Saturday and no one will even know! It'll be like starring in one of those old movies where the teenagers sneak out to go on a life-changing adventure… accept those kids usually get caught, and we obviously won't._

Delilah suppressed a smile at how Basil had just compared their little trip to a fifties family movie, then she frowned. _The only problem will be getting my family to think that I'm actually going to your house. I have to do it when Edward isn't in the room. You know how intuitive he can be,_ she wrote, pausing for a moment on the word _intuitive _and mentally sighing. _Intuitive_ did not begin to cover it.

Basil nodded when she looked at the paper, then she quickly snatched it up as Mrs. Thomas came up behind them to check on their progress.

"That's good, Delilah," she said. It had been a free assignment, so Delilah hadn't really known what to draw, but in the end, she'd just drawn babies. She didn't know why she'd wanted to draw a couple of babies of all things, but she thought it was pretty good. It was a pencil drawing of twins, a boy and a girl. The mouth of the little girl was open in a giggle, her eyes shining as she looked off into the distance at something. The boy was looking at the dandelion he clutched in his chubby little hand with intense concentration, holding it just outside of his mouth as if he was going to eat it.

Mrs. Thomas leaned over Delilah's shoulder to get a better look. "Your shading is a little off, but it's good, overall. Who are the cute little models?"

"Oh, they're not real," Delilah explained. "I don't really know any babies."

The teacher nodded in response, then began to talk with Basil about what she had been drawing, but Delilah couldn't bring herself to pay attention. She found it difficult to take her eyes from the drawing.

What she had said about not knowing any babies had been true, but she still had the gnawing feeling that she had seen these two before. The expressions on their faces, the way the girl seemed so carefree and the boy looked so serious and stoic seemed so familiar.

"_Hey... _Earth to Lilah..." A hand was waving back and forth in front of her face.

Delilah turned to Basil, noticing that Mrs. Thomas was now three tables away. "Sorry, what?"

Basil rolled her eyes playfully. "_I said_, I wonder if it's possible to get some extra credit."

Delilah smirked at her. "You've already done every extra credit assignment there is."

Basil shoved Delilah's shoulder jokingly. "Well, unlike _some_ of us, I wasn't born an art prodigy. And that's totally fine when it comes to extra credit, 'cause you know all of Mrs. T's extra credit assignments are easy as pie- all you have to do to get an A is participate. There must be_ something_ she hasn't had me do yet!"

Delilah just shrugged, her mind far away from the current conversation. She took her sketch off of her desk and placed it in her Art folder, careful not to rip it. She quite liked the picture.

* * *

><p>"<em>This is great<em>!" Basil shouted over the music, the bright lights flashing off of her red hair.

Per Basil's request, they had managed to find a good dance place that allowed people under 21 entry. It was actually just a roller rink with a dance floor, but Basil seemed to like it well enough. Delilah wasn't extremely fond of it. The music was throbbing against her eardrums, pressing the headache she already had to evolve into a migraine. But she had still danced with her friend for a while before she'd retired to a booth and ordered a glass of water.

She knew her smile looked strained as Basil flung herself into the booth beside her and took a gulp from her water. "I never realized dancing took so much energy!" Delilah smiled a little more genuinely as she saw how much fun her best friend was having.

Basil stood back up. "Come dance with me!"

Delilah stood too, shaking her head. "No thanks. I'm going to go cool off for a minute."

"Okay," Basil said. "Are you sure you don't want to dance?"

Delilah nodded, laughing as Basil made her way back onto the dance floor, accidentally knocking a waiter's tray right out of his hands on her way.

Delilah stepped outside for a moment, breathing in the cool air with relief. She walked around the corner, where she could get away from prying eyes for a moment, and sat down on the cold bus bench she found there. She sighed. They had been in Seattle for a whole day, and as the night went on, she found her anxiety growing more and more. She couldn't figure out why she had such a nagging feeling in the back of her mind, but she figured it was just because she felt guilty about lying to Carlisle and Esme.

She had actually been surprised how easy it had been to keep something from her family. Because Edward was almost always somewhere with Bella, he was rarely there to read her thoughts, so she hadn't had to quickly think of something else everytime she was home. Alice couldn't see her future in the first place; usually she just kept an eye on Basil's, since the two girls did everything together. But she had been so focused on whatever her initial vision had been about that she was too busy to pay attention to what was in Basil's future. The only other family member who might've noticed that something was wrong was Jasper, but there was no way he could actually tell what she was nervous about, only that she _was_ nervous. In the end, it had been ridiculously easy to make Esme think that she was spending the night at Basil's house.

She sighed as she leaned back on the bench, looking up at the sky, where bright little stars were just visible beyond the city lights. She found herself wondering if there was anyone back in Forks who was looking up at the same sky as her. She wondered if there was anyone in La Push who was.

She shook her head quickly, trying to dislodge the thought of a grey wolf from her head.

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><p>Delilah stood beside the car nervously. It was already nine o'clock in the morning, and she and Basil had decided to leave so that they could be home by two, since it was five hours by car from Seattle to Forks.<p>

Basil had been a little reluctant to leave the hotel they'd been staying in, which was pretty fancy. It hadn't really been a problem checking in without an adult; some people could be bribed too easily. All Delilah had had to do was wave the shiny new card she'd gotten from Rosalie in the employee's general direction, and the young man had been more than happy to oblige them. It wasn't something that Delilah would normally do- especially since she didn't usually like to use the card at all- but she knew that Basil had been set on experiencing the big city like a celebrity might, and the hotel was the closest they could get.

Once the other employees had learned of Delilah's _generosity_, she and Basil had been treated practically like royalty, and Delilah was happy that her best friend seemed to have had fun. But there had been a lump in her throat that only seemed to be getting bigger as the morning went on.

She didn't want to get in the car and drive home.

It wasn't because she wanted to stay in Seattle- that couldn't have been farther from the truth. While she did like seeing the city, she couldn't help wanting to be back home in Forks with her family.

But she wished that she wasn't the one who had to drive. Whenver she thought about getting on the highway, she got goosebumps and her breath caught in her throat and she had to tell herself to breathe. She didn't know why she was so anxious about being on the road, but she had to get over it. Taking a deep breath, she put her hand on the door handle and pulled it open, getting in and buckling up.

Basil came out of the lobby and into the parking lot, holding her hairbrush and grinning. "Found it!" she called. "It was on the bathroom sink! And guess what? The fronk desk person gave me a mint!" Delilah laughed at her friend's excitement over the little candy.

Basil got in the car, buckling her seatbelt and tossing her brush into the back seat. "Alright," she said. "Time to go home." Delilah nodded, turning the key in the ignition and pulling out of the parking lot and onto the main road.

Basil leaned back in her seat and blew out a huge breath, her fingers reaching up to move a ringlet away from her eyes and tuck it back in her fuzzy purple hat. "Man, I can't believe we actually did that! And we didn't even get caught or anything! Take that, old movies!"

"We're not home yet," Delilah reminded her. "Technically, we could still get caught."

"I guess," Basil ammended, laying her seat back and pulling her hat down so that it covered her eyes. "I'm gonna take a nap. Wake me up when we stop for lunch?"

"Sure," Delilah said, and within minutes, Basil was snoring, sound asleep.

With no distraction from her nervousness, Delilah felt the lump in her throat return ten times bigger. Her hands were clenched around the steering wheel as she put all her focus into watching the road- the last thing she wanted was to get in an accident. She didn't know how much time she had passed like that because she hadn't looked at the clock, but when Basil eventually woke up, it was with the complaint of an empty stomach.

"Let's get off at the next exit to get some lunch," she said, sitting her seat up and pulling down her mirror so that she could check her makeup. "Ooh. Not pretty," she mumbled to herself, taking her makeup case out of her purse.

Delilah pulled onto the exit ramp at the first sign she saw, and they found themselves on a near-deserted two lane road. Delilah spotted a sign on the side of the road, advertising a fastfood restaurant two miles away. She kept driving, feeling a little apprehensive as she glanced at the woods on either side of the road.

Basil looked away from her mirror for a moment. "That's weird. Usually when you get off the highway, the first thing you see is a big fat McDonald's sign, and then ten thousand other fastfood places and malls and stores. Must be a little town or something." She went back to applying her makeup.

Basil didn't see exactly what it was that darted out in front of the car, but Delilah suddenly slammed on the brakes, throwing them both forward in their seats. Basil's seatbelt dug into her painfully, and the mascara brush she'd been holding jabbed her in the cheek with force enough to leave a bruise. The car skidded for a moment before they finally came to a stop. All was silent.

Basil slowly opened her eyes, which she hadn't noticed were squeezed shut until that moment. She heard the sound of a car door opening, and when she looked up, she was alone in the car.

Delilah's seat was empty.

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><p><strong>AN: Dun dun DUNNNN! XD How's that for a cliffhanger?<strong>

**By the way, I know this update took a little while, but hopefully the chapter was worth it. Feel free to leave a review, 'cause they make me so happy! :D **


	18. What Happened

**AN: Just a heads up, the POV in this chapter switches back and forth between Basil and Delilah often enough to give you whiplash.**

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><p>Basil blinked in shock, then leaned over to look out the window. She could just see Delilah's figure disappearing as she got further into the tree line. It took her a moment to realize that her friend was running away from the car, and then she scrambled out of her seat and out the door.<p>

"Lila!"

She raced after Delilah, but the girl was really quick when she wanted to be, and it was not long before Basil lost her completely. Not knowing what else to do, she took off back in the direction of the road and was soon back at the car, her heart hammering in her chest. She frantically looked down the road for any signs that might tell her how far away they were from the nearest town, but they had long passed any signs that would tell her where they were.

"What do I do?!"

Suddenly, she saw a car coming in her direction on the old road. She scrambled out onto the side of the road the car was stopped on, into plain sight, waving her hands in the air.

"Hey! Stop, please! I need help!"

But the driver paid her no attention, and was soon changing lanes in order to pass the still car.

"Oh come _on_!"

The car's headlights caught on something in Delilah's car as it passed by, and Basil's eye was drawn to her sequined purse sitting in on the edge of her seat. She gasped, then hurried back around to her side of the car, where her door was still wide open. She searched quickly through the pockets of her purse for her phone.

"Don't worry, Basil, you've got this all under control!" she said to herself, hoping to stop the pounding of her heart. When she finally found it, she excitedly turned it on, only to find a notification in the middle of her screen:

_Low Battery _

In the next moment, the phone went black. She held it dumbly for a moment before throwing it down on the floor and searching Delilah's bag for the cell phone she'd gotten from Alice last Christmas. She flipped it open hurriedly, selecting the first number she saw on Delilah's contacts list. The phone only had to ring once.

"_Delilah_?" Rosalie's voice came through the phone.

"Rose! We need help- I don't know what to do- we were just driving and then it came out of _nowhere_- and Lila-"

"_What happened to Delilah_?" There was an urgency in Rosalie's tone now, and Basil forced herself to calm down so she could talk right.

She took deep breaths. "Something jumped out in front of the car and she just took off and I couldn't keep up with her and she's gone now and I don't know what's wrong with her!" she said rapidly, trying to hurry the words out of her mouth.

"_Where are you_?" Rosalie asked quickly.

"We're on some old road off _101_, about 30 minutes from Forks."

Rosalie didn't even ask why they were so far away. Instead, Basil heard her start an engine, and she only said, "_Stay in the car, I'm coming_."

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><p>Delilah was running.<p>

She was running faster than she ever had in her entire life, and though her legs hurt and her chest ached, she didn't stop. She felt panicked tears come to her eyes as what had happened seemed to flash before her again and again.

Someone had jumped out in front of the car. No, not someone.

A _vampire_.

She had been able to see his blood red eyes even from the car, even as she had been slamming down on the brakes and flying forward in her seat, her seatbelt digging into her painfully.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she didn't know why she was running, because she knew that if the vampire had wanted to get her, she would be dead already. And she had _no idea_ why she had abandoned Basil on the road, why she hadn't stayed with her best friend, who had stuck with her since she'd first moved to Forks.

All she knew was that her heart was pounding much too quickly, drumming out a beat that was far from normal as it punched against her chest repetitively, and she was absolutely terrified, and there was a vampire in the woods, and she felt like she would pass out, and she _had to get away_.

* * *

><p>Surprisingly, it wasn't long before the Cullens' cars had shown up on the old road. Basil ran up to the one that she knew was Carlisle and Esme's, tears stinging her eyes.<p>

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, Mrs. Cullen! This was all my fault- it was _my_ idea-"

"Shh," Esme said softly, opening her door. "We can talk about it later. Right now, the important thing is finding Delilah."

Basil nodded, watching dumbly as they all quickly got out of their cars. Almost all of them had come to help- Alice and Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie, and Carlisle and Esme.

Carlisle an Esme glanced at Basil, then at each other, and then Esme held out her hand to Basil. "You and I should stay here in case she comes back," she said, and before Basil could say anything, Mrs. Cullen gestured to the passenger door of Mr. Cullen's car.

Though she wanted to help find her friend, Basil was too exhausted to protest. She reached into Delilah's car to get her purse.

When she turned around again, the others were no longer in sight, though Mrs. Cullen still waited patiently by her husband's car. She felt her forehead wrinkle in confusion as she glanced around quizzically. She knew that the Cullens really loved Delilah a lot, but she hadn't known that they could disappear so _quickly_ like that. Maybe that was where Delilah had learned to run so fast.

She got in the car, shutting the door and locking it behind her because she still couldn't feel completely safe. Mrs. Cullen got in too, and turned the radio on, but her eyes were directed at the trees where Delilah had disappeared, and her expression left no doubt that she was worried for Delilah. Basil tried to calm down as she leaned against the seat, listening to the soft classical music that was on. The Cullens were big on classical music.

She rubbed at her cheek tenderly, trying to get the mascara off without irritating the bruise she felt there. She wondered if Delilah had any injuries, and if she was okay, wherever she was. Hopefully, the Cullens would find her soon.

* * *

><p>There weren't many sounds in the woods. At least, not that Delilah could hear. There might have been crickets out already, maybe some birds since the sun was not yet set, but she never heard them. All she could hear was the pounding of her feet against the ground and the same pounding in her chest, the whipping sound of twigs smacking against her face as the woods grew thicker.<p>

She must've been running for a while before she came to a very small clearing, and suddenly her knees couldn't support her and she fell to the ground, landing hard on her arm as she tried to catch herself. She attempted to get back up, but her muscles wouldn't work no matter how hard she tried, and she eventually gave up, collapsing back to the cold earth.

Her eyes seemed to shut of their own accord, and the world went black.

In what seemed like no time at all, she was awake again. She didn't know if she had woken up and then someone had found her, or if she had woken up _because_ someone had found her, but there were suddenly hands on her shoulders.

"_Delilah_," the person said, shaking her a little. "_Wake up_." She groaned in response.

"_I can carry you, but you have to sit up a little so I can pick you up without hurting you_," the voice urged.

She kept her eyes closed but sat up slowly, grimacing at how sore her muscles were. Almost immediately she flopped back down, but not before the person had stuck their hands underneath her, cushioning the fall. In the next second, she was swept up into strong arms and held against a warm chest. She instinctively curled toward it, laying her head down, and the person's breathing hitched for a moment.

Then they were moving quickly through the woods, and it wasn't long before she heard Rosalie's voice.

"_Delilah! What happened_?" Cold hands tried to take her, but she shied away, back into the warm arms that held her.

There was a beat of silence.

"_Where did you find her_?" Carlisle's voice.

"_She was passed out in the middle of a clearing East from here_."

"_She must have been running for a long time_," she heard Emmett surmise, a concerned note just under the surface of his normally jesting voice.

"_Let's worry about that later_," Carlisle said. "_Right now she needs to be taken home_."

"_We're still half an hour away._" Rosalie again. "_Are you sure we shouldn't just take her to a hospital_?"

A cold hand probed her head gently where a particularly big branch had smacked her. "_I don't see anything extremely pressing at the moment. It should be safe to just take her home and treat her there_."

And then somehow they were back on the road, and Basil was saying "_Delilah! Oh my gosh are you okay?! I don't even know what happened, you just disa_-…" Her voice grew lower as she whispered to Esme. "_Um.. Mrs. Cullen, was he with you guys when you first got here_?"

And then the next thing she knew, she was in the back seat of a car, laying her head against the warm person's shoulder because he was so _warm_ and she didn't want to be cold again.

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><p>When Delilah woke the next morning, it was with little to no recollection of what had happened the night before.<p>

When she had first felt like she had been almost all the way awake, she had tried to get out of bed, only to collapse back onto it as her muscles protested. Now she was just laying there, looking at the ceiling and trying to figure out how exactly she had gotten home last night. She remembered the screech of the tires as she had stomped on the brakes, the yank of the seatbelt against her body, the feel of wind blowing past her as she ran… and that was it. She blinked when there came a knock at her bedroom door.

"Delilah, how do you feel?" Rosalie questioned, pushing the door open. Emmett came in behind her and the two stood by her bed.

Rosalie leaned down to lay a hand on her forehead. "You didn't have a fever last night, but with your tendency to get sick the way you do, it's a possibility you could still get one," she explained.

Delilah somehow found the strength to sit up this time with the help of Emmett's large, gentle hands supporting her back. "What happened last night?" she asked dazedly, tentatively pressing her fingers to the bump on her forehead and noticing as she did all the raised cuts and scratches on her arms.

"Ah yes," Rosalie said. "_Someone_ thought it would be a good idea to sneak off to Seattle, which, by the way, was _so_ dangerous and just completely stupid that I'm surprised you went along with it at all."

Delilah cringed, tugging on the sleeve of her shirt sheepishly. "Rose, I'm sorry, I know it was really stupid of me- I didn't think it out very well. But I don't even remember what _happened_."

"A vampire jumped out in front of your car. we don't know what he was doing , but fortunately, he ran off pretty quickly. Carlisle thinks seeing him caused you to have a panic attack."

"I ran away," Delilah said, suddenly remembering how she had fled the vampire until she couldn't even move. "And then someone came and found me, but it wasn't any of you. I know because he was really warm," she admitted, blushing as she realized how crazy she sounded.

"Yes," Rosalie said abruptly, frostily.

"_Anyway_," Emmett said, stretching out on Delilah's cream colored sofa so he was laying with his feet hanging off the end. "Long story short, we took you both home, Basil got grounded again, and you're on bed rest for the next three days. But don't worry, you won't be without things to do- Basil's mom gave her permission to bring you your homework," he snickered. Delilah grimaced at the thought of having to stay in bed for three days doing nothing but boring school work.

Rosalie took a step towards the door. "You should be getting some sleep. Esme and Carlisle are gone, but Emmett and I will be downstairs if you need us, okay?"

They were almost out of the room when Delilah responded. "Okay." Then she realized something. "Wait, what's so dangerous about being in Seattle?"

"What?"

"You said a minute ago that going to Seattle was dangerous."

Rosalie looked like she wanted to kick herself. Emmett's expression, on the other hand, was boastful. "I told you we wouldn't be able to keep it from her for long."

Rosalie sat down on the side of Delilah's bed, smoothing the covers as she did so, and Emmett made himself comfortable again on the sofa.

"There's been a string of murders lately in Seattle…" Rosalie began, and Delilah's brow furrowed.

"Really? I hadn't heard anything about it. What happened?"

"Carlisle and Jasper are suggesting that it's the work of a newborn- a few of them, actually."

"A newborn vampire?" Delilah shuddered when Rose nodded. "What exactly do you mean by 'a few'?"

"Well, if we're right, it's more like..."

"Way more than a few," Emmett said.

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><p><strong>AN: Reviews are always appreciated... *<em>hint hint*<em>... XD Drop me one if you want to! :) **


	19. Help

**AN: Look at me, updating quickly for once! For some reason, this chapter kinda flowed out of me, so I decided to just post it already instead of waiting a little bit :p **

**Anyway, I just want to clarify that I don't own the Twilight books... as if that wasn't completely obvious. But some dialogue in this chapter is taken from Eclipse, so I wanted to be on the safe side! **

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><p>Delilah watched curiously beside Basil as Jacob Black walked into her house, followed by three of the boys from the wolf pack. She didn't recognize any of them in their human forms, but her eyes felt drawn to the one behind the others, who was a little taller and more built than his friends. His eyes were searching the throng of people carefully, looking for someone, Delilah guessed, but before she could elaborate on that thought any further, they found her. She looked away quickly, embarrassed to have been caught staring. She could practically feel Basil emitting waves interest from beside her, the redhead's eyes glued to the huge Quileute boys talking to Bella.<p>

"Lila," Basil whispered in her ear, grinning. "That really buff guy over there by Bella is checking you out."

Delilah slapped her best friend in the arm, feeling her cheeks heat up. Basil snickered, then recognition lit her eyes. "Hey, I think that's the dude that helped rescue you in the woods a few weeks ago!"

Delilah's head snapped up to look at him, only to find him still staring at her. She looked away again, pulling nervously at the cream colored dress Esme had bought her. "Are you sure?"

Basil rose her eyebrows. "Are you seriously asking me that? I think I would know a really muscle-y, really hot Quileute boy when I see one."

"Yeah, but it could have been someone else from the reservation," Delilah said doubtfully.

"No, he's the one. I'm sure," Basil announced with conviction. She grabbed Delilah's hand with a mischievous gleam in her eye. "Come on, let's go see what they're talking about, and maybe you can get your _rescuer's_ number in the meantime."

Delilah was promptly dragged over, despite all her struggling and whining. Realizing that the group could be talking about the recent vampire attacks in Seattle, something Basil wasn't allowed to know about, Delilah started talking right as they came into earshot.

"Hi, Bella."

Bella whirled around, relief lighting up her face. "Delilah! Do you know where your family is, by any chance?"

Delilah shrugged. "Sorry, I haven't seen them a lot since the party started. But I did see Alice a few minutes ago- she was going upstairs."

"That's perfect," Bella smiled at her, ready to head in that direction, but Jacob grabbed her by the wrist at the last moment, hauling her into the kitchen despite her protests. Delilah and Basil were left alone with the other three Quileute boys, and Delilah shifted awkwardly as the silence went on for a minute.

"So," Basil said eventually, smiling flirtatiously at the boys. "Do you have names?"

"Quil," one said with a nod, smiling a little.

Another one stuck out his hand, grinning at them. "Embry." Both girls shook his hand, but Delilah hesitated when she saw the pinched look on the third boy's face. She dropped Embry's hand quickly, and the last boy met her eyes again, his mouth opening a little and then closing, like he didn't know what to say.

Finally, he settled with, "I'm Paul."

Delilah immediately recognized the name. Paul had been the name of the wolf that she had seen the night Victoria had almost attacked her. He put out his hand like Embry had done, but before Delilah could shake it, Basil was introducing herself.

"I'm Basil, and this is Delilah. Now tell me, is there some kind of steroid in the water in La Push?" She threw up her hands in a gesture of peace. "Not trying to offend, just asking."

Embry grinned at her and said something funny, appreciative that she had noticed their bulging muscles. But Paul was looking at Delilah, his hand still hanging in the air, waiting for her to take it. Delilah reached out, but just as she was about to shake it, she saw Bella and Jacob reappear in the kitchen doorway from the corner of her eye. She thought she heard Paul growl quietly, and she bit her lip, turning away from him to face Bella.

It looked like something was wrong, and Delilah couldn't help feeling ill at ease at the expression on Bella's face. She began to push through the crowd. "Basil, I need to go talk to my family. Meet up with you in a few?" Basil nodded understandingly, falling back and wandering over to the long table Alice had set up for food.

Delilah kept trying to elbow her way through the throng of people, but she wasn't the strongest person, and she had a hard time seeing under the dim party lights. She was just about to give up and leave Bella to her own devices when she felt someone come up behind her. It was Paul, with Embry and Quil flanking him. People automatically made room for them to go through, and Delilah followed behind, Paul glancing back at her once.

"Now. Explain," Jacob was demanding from Bella when she reached them, and Delilah looked back and forth between the two of them, furrowing her brow.

"Jacob, I don't know everything."

Jacob responded, but Delilah wasn't listening. Feeling a pair of eyes on her, she turned around and caught a glimpse of Alice on the stairs.

"Alice," she said quietly, and though the current song that was playing was pounding loudly, the vampire's eyes flitted over them, analyzing the situation. Alice skipped over to them, putting an arm around Bella's waist and whispering something in her ear.

"Come on, Delilah," she called behind her, and Delilah began to follow them.

Suddenly, Jacob's hand flew out to slam against the wall, blocking them from going through and almost hitting Delilah in the face. She backed up quickly, noticing that while the other Quileute boys looked fine, Paul was shaking terribly, his face filled with fury. Jacob ignored him, but Embry and Quil suddenly looked nervous.

"Paul," Quil said loudly while Embry gripped the shaking boy's arm. "Come on, man. Let's go outside." But Paul ignored them, his gaze fixed on Jacob and Delilah, of his hand on the wall where her head would have been.

Alice's face was incredulous as she put a hand on Delilah's shoulder, gold eyes glinting at Jacob. "Excuse me?"

In the next moment, Jasper was there, his expression dangerous as he stood between Alice and Jacob, pulling Delilah's arm gently to silently tell her to get behind him; she obeyed reluctantly.

With Delilah out of his sight, Paul seemed to snap back into reality. He sprinted out the nearest door, and Delilah craned her neck to try to see where he had gone.

Then she did something that even she couldn't explain to herself- she ran after him, ignoring Bella's and Alice's calls. By the time she was at the door, she couldn't see him anymore, and she knew he must already be in the woods. She ran after him, not pausing to think about what she was doing.

Once she was at the edge of the forest, however, she hesitated.

"Paul?" she called out, walking in slowly. She hated the way her voice sounded so frail and weak and just plain small- she sounded like a little kid.

There was a slight rustling throughout the woods around her, and Delilah turned in that direction, squinting her eyes in the dark. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, a giant grey wolf appeared, lowering its head in order to look at her.

Delilah glanced back at the house out of habit, but they were far enough in that the partiers inside wouldn't see them. She looked back at Paul, and he pricked up his ears and cocked his head to the side. The gesture was so out of character for the image she had in her head of the werewolf that Delilah couldn't contain the giggle that rose to her lips. The wolf's eyes closed for a moment at the sound, and when they reopened, they were so gentle that she couldn't help but be mesmerized by them.

"Hey, uh, Delilah?"

Surprised, Delilah turned around to face Quil, who was smiling ruefully at her. He scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Your, um… sister wanted me to make sure you were okay.."

Delilah smiled back slightly, feeling shy. "Yes, I'm fine." Then she finally realized how nosy she must have seemed, following Paul out into the woods like that, like she even had a right to. "But I think I'll go back in."

Now it was Quil's turn to be surprised, and he hastened to say: "You don't have to do that, really."

"I know," she said quietly while picking her way over the weeds and tree roots that covered the ground, trying not to trip and fall. She stopped when she got to the tree line, looking back at Paul, who was extremely still, and Quil, who still had a sheepish look on his face. "I'm sorry I bothered you," she said sincerely, turning on the spot and heading back into the house.

She heard muffled voices from behind her, what sounded like Paul's voice pitched in an angry whisper, and Quil's regretful one. Delilah wondered why they were arguing- perhaps because Quil had come too late and Paul had been tired of her? She felt a twinge somewhere in her chest, but ignored it. She _had_ apologized, after all.

Just as she got to the door, two figures burst out of the house, making her jump back a little. She watched as Jacob and Embry walked out, grinning widely, and ran off into the forrest, no doubt to phase. She went in the house through the side door, her eyes searching carefully for Alice, Bella, and Jasper. She finally found Alice and Jasper, but Bella was nowhere in sight; she wondered if Edward had already taken her home. She approached Alice, leaning on her sister as the vampire put a comforting hand around her waist.

"What happened?" Delilah questioned, noticing that Alice was grinning like Jacob and Embry had been.

"We've found a solution to the little newborn army problem," the short-haired vampire said cheerfully.

"Really?" Delilah asked noncommittally, her gaze sweeping the room for her best friend's signature fire engine red hair- Basil was sure to be mad at Delilah for abandoning her. But a moment later, she spotted her over where some of the graduates were, chatting with a rambunctious looking girl that Delilah recognized as Jessica, one of Bella's friends. She smiled a little at Basil's ability to overlook the girl's annoying personality, but Alice's voice brought her back to the conversation at hand.

"What?" she said sheepishly. "Sorry, I didn't hear you."

"I said, the wolves are going to help us!" Alice chirped.

"Help us fight? But won't they get hurt?"

"If they were facing them alone, most likely," Jasper admitted. "But the whole point of using them is so that _no one_ gets hurt."

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><p>Delilah stood slightly behind Esme, gripping her adoptive mother's cold hand tightly as she watched the wolves make their way out of the forest. In the darkness, she could see only the outline of their huge bodies, which made them look all the more frightening. They stopped right at the edge of the trees, clearly uncomfortable with coming any closer to the Cullens, and Carlisle stepped forward to welcome them.<p>

Delilah's eyes took in all of them; there were more than she had known, ten in fact. The only ones she recognized were Sam, the biggest one with the black coat, Jacob, who was a brown-ish color, and Paul, who stood stiffly, the silver strands in his grey coat catching the moonlight as he shifted his weight.

"Thank you," Edward spoke for Sam, his voice a careful monotone.

It wasn't long before Jasper was facing them, his back turned on the wolves, teaching them the proper techniques to evade and kill a newborn vampire. "There are two things to remember: don't let them get their arms around you, and don't go for the obvious attack."

He motioned for Emmett to come up beside him, and the two of them began to fight, Emmett attacking directly and Jasper evading him cleverly. It wasn't long before Jasper's teeth were at Emmett's throat and the latter was forced to give up.

"My turn," Edward said from where he stood with Bella, looking eager to practice. Delilah cracked a small smile- Bella may have been extremely clueless sometimes, but there was no doubt that Edward would do anything, learn any type of combative training he could, just to keep her safe.

"Wait a moment," Jasper said, gesturing at Alice. "Bella, I know you're worried about her, but I want to show you why that's not necessary."

Alice approached Jasper with a skip in her step, not at all looking intimidated. The short vampire closed her eyes, and Jasper lunged. But quicker than Delilah's eyes could see, Alice had dodged him, stepping just enough to the left to be out of his reach. Delilah watched as the two of them made up a funny sort of dance, Jasper lunging and reaching, Alice twirling and dancing away with her eyes still closed. Looking over at Bella, Delilah saw that the girl looked nothing short of amazed, and gave her a reassuring smile. Alice was a lot tougher than she looked.

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><p>Paul tried to watch what the bloodsuckers were doing, but he found it increasingly difficult to tear his eyes away from the tiny girl pressed into the woman vampire's side. She looked so small and breakable under the sparse moonlight that it was hard to believe that she was the same age as him, that she wasn't just a young child playing a part.<p>

He was grateful for his enhanced eyesight as he took in her pale face, the way her light eyes tried to follow the movements of the vampires but gave up after a few moments, the way her brow furrowed and her lips pursed when the blonde bloodsucker's grasping hands came a little close to the small, dark haired one.

_That's your imprint?_ Seth asked him, peering at her curiously.

_She's pretty, no doubt about that,_ Brady thought, and Paul felt a growl building in his chest.

_Mine_, he snarled possessively.

_Paul, Brady, Seth!_ Sam barked, lowly but firmly. _We are here to observe, not to goof off_.

_You might as well save your breath talking to Paul_, Jacob snickered. _He's been _observing_ alright, just not the bloodsuckers_.

Paul wanted to snap back with some sort of insult, but they all finally fell silent as Sam let out a warning growl. Paul went back to watching the training.

But after just a few moments, his eyes had once again strayed to her.

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><p>Bella watched warily as Jasper and Alice fought, two supernatural beings engaged in a beautiful but dangerous dance. It was easy to forget that it wasn't real, that Jasper wasn't really trying to hurt Alice.<p>

She glanced over at where Delilah stood huddled into Esme's side, watching the two vampires intently. The girl seemed feel her gaze, because a moment later, two blue eyes were directed at her, the moonlight hitting them just right and giving them an almost electric shine.

Delilah smiled at her, and Bella couldn't help smiling back. She'd never really talked to Delilah as much as she had the other Cullens, but it wasn't because she didn't like her- she was pretty sure _everybody_ liked Delilah. The girl was really very shy, and it had taken her the longest time to warm to the idea of a human stranger coming into the Cullens' life. Bella knew that she would get used to her eventually- she just tried not to take it personally.

Before long, the fight was over and Alice was standing beside Delilah and Esme, two tiny china dolls and their gorgeous mother. She saw Delilah reach out and grab Alice's hand, and the small vampire leaned toward the girl. They were almost the same height, but Alice stood a little taller than Delilah; standing back and looking at her from this distance, it was easy to see why everyone treated Delilah like a glass figurine.

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><p>"The pack wants to get our scents so that there won't be any hesitance when they fight the newborns," Edward voice filtered into her consciousness, and Delilah sat up wearily, forcing her eyes open. She had ended up half asleep on the ground, leaning against Esme, who had kept up a constant running of her fingers through the girl's hair.<p>

Esme stood, then reached down to carefully help Delilah up as the wolves began to form a sort of line. Delilah shivered when the first wolf, Sam, came by and sniffed at Esme, his eyes straying to Delilah for a moment before he went on to Alice, who was standing next to her.

The wolves all came by in a line, taking a moment to get Esme's scent, wrinkling their noses at the smell, and looking at her- always looking at her, even if just for a second. She wondered if they thought she was odd, the girl who was not a vampire but lived comfortably with seven.

One wolf threw her what Delilah thought was a disgusted look, and she shifted uncomfortably under its reproachful gaze until Alice cleared her throat pleasantly. The wolf moved on without looking back, and the next one came up to her and Esme.

She recognized him immediately as Paul, and smiled shyly at him, feeling a little foolish because she didn't even know him that well and yet she was treating him like they were friends. His eyes paused on her after he had sniffed Esme, and he made a funny sort of soft barking noise. Her smile grew wider, and he seemed satisfied with that, trotting off to smell Alice.

Jacob was the last wolf to visit them, having been playing around near Bella. He took a quick sniff of Esme, used for the most part to how the Cullens smelled, and nodded a short greeting to Delilah before he went off.

After all the wolves had left but Jacob, who was talking with Edward about where to put Bella when the battle was going on, Rosalie came up to her.

"Are you tired?" she asked, putting her hands on Delilah's cheeks.

Delilah nodded. "Maybe tonight I'll be able to get some sleep."

Rosalie pursed her lips. "Hopefully. I'm taking Delilah home," she said to Esme, whose face brightened.

"Good idea, darling, I'll come with you," Esme said, smiling softly at Delilah.

Once Delilah was in her bed, however, she found that she had been wrong about getting some sleep; the insomnia didn't seem to care if she was tired. She tossed and turned for the better part of an hour, but found no relief. Eventually, she decided to go down into the kitchen, where Rosalie was skimming over a magazine, Esme putting in her two cents on a dress or a top when needed.

They looked up as Delilah traipsed into the kitchen, both smiling supportively because they knew she hadn't been able to sleep. Delilah sat down in a chair at the table, relishing in the companionable silence that was only broken every few minutes by Rosalie making a comment on a blouse and Esme replying.

Out of nowhere, something occurred to her: "Where will I go when you fight the newborns?"

Rosalie looked up from the fashion magazine she was holding. "Well, you could always spend the night at Basil's house."

"Do you want me to make you some soup, honey?" Esme asked her. "That sometimes helps when you can't sleep."

Delilah smiled gratefully but declined. "It's okay, Esme." She hesitated for a moment, trying to find the right words to describe how she was feeling. "I just don't want to be putting Basil in danger. What if one shows up at her house?"

"Who they're after is Bella, not you," Rosalie said, circling a light blue coat in the magazine and scrawling a _D_ next to it. "I'm sure they don't even know who you are, which means the two of you will be completely safe."

"But… what about you?" Delilah asked tentatively, studying her nails. "You're all going out to fight an army, and I won't be able to know if you're okay until hours later."

"Darling," Esme said, tucking a stray lock of hair behind Delilah's ear. "Everything's going to be fine."

The bad feeling in the pit of Delilah's stomach said otherwise.

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><p><strong>AN: Review if you want to! ;p<strong>


	20. An Invitation

**AN: Hello, people! :D This chapter is dedicated to _JustcallmeRiley_, who made me realize that the only Cullen I hadn't written a Delilah-fluff scene with was Emmett! This chapter's kind of a filler/setting things up for the next chapter :P**

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><p>The training sessions with the wolves went on, and Delilah came to almost every one, embarrassingly uncomfortable being alone in the house while the Cullens were gone. She felt like a little kid, following the Cullens around like that, but she couldn't help it. Something about having the huge house to herself, with no one there with her, made her feel sort of empty inside.<p>

There were times, of course, when she knew that they would run late. On those times, she had opted to spend some quality time with Basil, who was convinced that Delilah had been distant lately.

"I mean, come on," the redhead said one night as they lay on her floor watching TV and flipping through Basil's girly magazines. "I get that you've been distracted by your hot _savior_ and all, but don't forget: sisters before misters! You gotta be willing to spend some time with your best friend. This Paul guy doesn't define you," Basil said, her tone turning joking to let Delilah know that she wasn't really mad at her. "You are a strong, independent woman, and you do _not_ need a man to complete you!"

Delilah giggled. "Nice."

"Thanks. Still though," Basil said. "Letting a guy distract you to the point of isolation equals _no-no_."

Delilah scoffed but to her dismay, felt heat creeping up her neck, spreading quickly to her ears. "I haven't been distracted by him. I hardly ever see him," she lied, knowing that the late night training sessions between vampires and werewolves were definitely taboo as a topic for girl talk.

"Really?" Basil asked, looking genuinely puzzled. "Why not? Bella goes down to the reservation all the time, why don't you go with her?"

"I just don't feel like it," Delilah lied again. In truth, she couldn't stop herself from wanting to go with Bella, to see the wolf pack and know what went on in the reservation. But she was too embarrassed to ask her family, and she already knew what their answer would surely be.

During a training session not long after that, Delilah was wide awake, her insomnia keeping her from catching any sleep. She got up from her spot beside Esme, giving the woman a reassuring glance, and walked around aimlessly not far from where the Cullens and the wolves were, staring up at the pale moon and shivering to herself every once in a while.

She wondered what the moon looked like from the other side of the world, if it was drastically different or looked exactly the same as it did in Forks. There in her little town, it was small, pale, and surrounded by dark clouds, but maybe on the other side of the earth it appeared bigger, more luminescent. More beautiful.

She wandered around like that for a while, well aware of Esme's, or sometimes Rosalie's, watchful eyes, until her legs were extremely tired. She slowly made her way back, stopping by a tree near the edge of the forest and sliding down, sitting with a sigh. She crossed her legs Indian style and leaned against it, pulling her jacket closer around her in an effort to keep warm. It had been getting progressively colder each night, and she had a nasty feeling that it would snow soon. She grimaced- she had always hated snow.

After a few minutes, she felt a pair of eyes watching her, and turned her head to the side. There she found Paul's brown eyes, staring out at her from a patch of trees not too far from her. The wolves had definitely become at least a little more comfortable around the Cullens, branching out to watch in different places. Bella was currently nestled into Jacob's side, and Delilah felt jealous. That fur was probably really warm.

She looked Paul in the eyes for a moment longer before she turned away, watching as Jasper explained a concept to Emmett. She still felt his eyes on her from time to time, but strangely, it felt more comforting than creepy, and she was soon able to fall asleep under his gaze.

When she woke, the training was over and the Cullens were talking amongst themselves, their serious voices too quiet for Delilah to hear. Feeling like she shouldn't intervene, she shoved her hands in her pockets, walking a small distance away from them.

There was a rustling somewhere near her, and a moment later, Paul was walking out of the forest in human form. He approached her slowly, as if afraid that he might scare her away. She straightened her posture almost subconsciously, her throat tightening a little as her heartbeat sped up. When he reached her, she noticed that he was only wearing a pair of cutoff jeans- not unusual for the wolves, who couldn't exactly carry around full outfits, but Delilah still found herself wondering if he ever got cold in them.

He was looking into her eyes. "Hey," he said, his voice low and a little gruff-sounding; she guessed it was from being in wolf form for so long.

"Hi," she said back, smiling a little.

"So uh, we're having a little bonfire down at the Res," he said haltingly. "I um- …you should come."

"I'm invited?" she questioned incredulously. He nodded. "But why?" she asked, confused.

His expression froze for a moment. "Well, it wasn't really decided by _everyone_. What I meant… was that _I_ just invited you, so technically you _have_ been invited. Jake invited Bella," he added suddenly, but by then Delilah was hardly listening- she couldn't believe that he was inviting her to the bonfire. She still had no idea why it made her so happy, but she couldn't help it- Delilah felt a smile spreading across her face, and contently watched the resulting grin on his.

"Really? That sounds like fun, I'll try to come," she said happily, feeling stupid because of how giddy she was.

"Good. I... I really want you t-"

"Lila Jo, time to go home," Emmett interrupted suddenly from where the Cullens stood, and Paul's face became unreadable as he stepped away from her.

"I'll see you there, then."

She nodded at him, a ghost of a smile still lingering on her lips as she made her way to Emmett, who was watching her strangely. "Making friends, Lila Jo?" he teased, ruffling her hair a little as she passed. But his golden eyes seemed troubled.

She hesitated but ignored the emotion under his joking expression, going to Esme and putting her arms around her mother's waist and hugging her.

"Esme," she murmured. "Did you hear? I was invited to the bonfire."

She felt Esme nod her head, but then the vampire sighed. "Yes, darling. But I'm not sure that it's the best idea."

Delilah frowned, leaning back to look Esme in the eye. "Why?"

Esme's eyes were full of sympathy. "I know you want to go, but there are a lot of things that could go wrong."

"What could happen? Bella's going, too. I'll be fine, Esme."

"What if you weren't?" Esme questioned softly. "We would have no way to reach you without breaking the treaty."

"Please?" Delilah insisted. She rarely ever asked for anything from the Cullens, so she knew that Esme wouldn't be able to deny her the one thing she wanted. She felt guilty doing that to the sweet woman, but she couldn't help picturing Paul's face when he found out that she wasn't there, and how Bella would go and have fun and be around the wolves but she wouldn't be able to.

After a long moment, Esme sighed again. "Do you _really_ want to go that much?"

"Yes," Delilah said without hesitation.

Esme glanced at something behind Delilah, probably Carlisle, because that's who spoke next. "You will stay near Bella," he said, trying to look stern but failing miserably when he saw the smile on Delilah's face.

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><p>When they got home, everyone but Emmett and Delilah seemed to conveniently disappear, and she knew immediately that they had planned it out beforehand.<p>

Delilah was sitting at the kitchen table, snacking on raisins and gazing out the window at the dark sky. Emmett got her attention from the living room, where he was watching football.

"Come sit with me like you used to, Lila Jo," he implored, grinning at her. "You never have time for me anymore!"

"Actually," she said deviously. "It's _football_ I don't have time anymore. Worst sport ever." Delilah snickered as she immediately saw the rise she'd gotten out of Emmett.

"Hey, football is a _great American pastime_! …But I _guess_ I could change it, just this once." She smiled as he flipped channels until he ended up on a family sitcom. "Perfect," he said, laying back against the sofa with a somewhat false air of relaxation.

"So… you remember that one time when we were playing ball and you had that asthma attack?"

Delilah nodded, confused. "Yeah, I can almost still remember the feeling."

_She and Emmett were playing catch in the huge yard by the house, he gently tossing it to her while she threw it as hard as her little arms could manage. Emmett grinned at her, easily catching the low ball she'd thrown at him._

_"Delilah, are you ready for lunch yet?" Esme called from the door to the house, smiling at the sight the two of them made, a huge, bear of a vampire, and a smaller than average eight-year-old playing catch together._

_Delilah caught the ball and turned to her mother, unconsciously sticking her bottom lip out. "Not yet! Please, Esme, we're having so much fun!"_

_"That's wonderful," Esme said dotingly._

_"I think we may have an itty bitty Babe Ruth on our hands," Emmett joked, winking at Delilah._

_Esme laughed. "Just don't overdo it, alright?"_

_Emmett and Delilah both nodded their heads vigorously, and Esme disappeared back into the house. _

_"Emmett, look how far I can throw!" Delilah squealed, tossing the ball up high in the air. Emmett caught it easily and sent it back to her a little overzealously; the ball sailed right over the little girl's head and out into the small field by their house. _

_"No!" Delilah called as Emmett made to go and retrieve it. "I'll get it!" She bounded off as quickly as she could in the direction the ball had gone, pushing the tall grass out of her way as she went. It wasn't long before she was out of breath, but she pushed on anyway, determined to find the ball so that she and Emmett could continue to play. She had to stop, however, when her chest suddenly constricted. _

_She gasped, trying to get air into her lungs, but it seemed as if she was surrounded by water. She dropped down so that she was sitting on her knees in the tall grass, grabbing her throat, panicked. Emmett immediately noticed that something was wrong; he was there in a second, taking her hands away from her neck. _

_He pulled her into his lap, murmuring to her, "Breath slowly, Delilah." _

_She gasped again, feeling a tear roll down her cheek. "Shh," he said. "If you cry, you're gonna make it worse. Just breath with me, slowly, slowly..." _

_It took a moment, but finally Delilah was able to calm her self down enough to do as he instructed, breathing in and out as slowly as she could. Soon, the clenched feeling in her chest subsided, and she breathed out in relief._

_Suddenly, Emmett seemed angry- he turned her around to face him, hands on her shoulders. "You shouldn't do stuff like that, Delilah! You still aren't the healthiest kid- you can't just run around all wild like that, or you'll have those breathing problems."_

_Emmett had never been mad at her before, _ever_. She felt shocked tears prick her eyes, and her bottom lip trembled._

_Emmett's face immediately changed, his eyes softening and his features relaxing. He pulled her back into his arms, his chest rumbling as he chuckled. "Lila Jo, I'm not mad at you. Don't you ever think I'm mad at you when something like this happens, because I'm only looking out for you like a big brother is supposed to. I just don't want to see you hurt, okay?"_

_"Okay," she murmured._

"Why are you asking about old memories all of a sudden?" Delilah questioned curiously, sitting down on the sofa next to Emmett. He smiled ruefully at her, and she noticed that his usual joking demeanor had dimmed slightly.

"I've seen you looking at him… that Paul kid."

Delilah felt the blood rush to her face, and she looked away from him, picking at her nails. "I haven't been looking at him! I-I _just_… he …Is it really that obvious?" she asked hopelessly, giving up all pretense.

Emmett snickered. "Oh, definitely. You are _way_ past obvious- you are _so_ obvious that it's almost _blinding_." Then his face grew serious. "You like him, even if you won't admit it to yourself."

He sighed, rubbing a hand across his face. "I just think you should be careful.. He's not the most calm person, even for one of _them_."

Delilah opened her mouth to defend Paul, but Emmett stopped her. "I know you don't think so. But just think of it like.. like there are two Pauls. The one you're always around is, uh.. nice, I guess," he mumbled awkwardly. He cleared his throat.

"But there's a whole other side to him that you've never even seen before, Lila Jo, and it's not really a side that you'll like."

Delilah frowned. "Emmett, I know you're only trying to take care of me-"

"Exactly," Emmett interrupted, but Delilah barged on. "-_but I don't need it_. I'm sixteen now. That's more than old enough to take care of myself. I didn't even say that I liked Paul-" she blushed a little, "- but if I did, it would be up to me to make the decision, not anyone else."

Emmett sighed again. "There's that independent attitude we always tried to encourage- that backfired spectacularly. Look, I'm just trying to help you. I don't want to see you hurt, Delilah. None of us do."

"I know," Delilah said quietly. "Um... I'm tired. I think I'll go to bed."

She stood without waiting for a response, going up to her room quickly and collapsing on her bed. She felt emotionally drained.

She remembered when it used to be so easy to agree with everything the Cullens said, as long as they promised to keep her safe. She remembered how she used to be so close to all of them, when she could trust that each of them were protecting her with everything they did.

When had it become so difficult to talk to Emmett about her life? How had she gotten to the point where she would beg and plead to get her own way even when she knew that Esme and Carlisle and Rosalie and all the others had nothing but her best interest at heart? When had she changed so much?

She searched through her memories, looking for a specific date, a day, an hour, a _second_ when her point of view had shifted that much. She thought about it for a long time, but she never could find the date, day, hour, or second she was trying so desperately to find.

When she went to sleep, nightmares about being trapped underwater plagued her.

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><p><strong>AN: Well, what do you guys think about the little EmmettDelilah bonding scene? Leave a review and let me know (if you want, because it's not like I can track you down and force you or anything... *shifty eyes* XD)! :D**


	21. The Bonfire

**AN: For the record, I'm pretty sure the bonfire scene comes before the party scene in the book, but oh well! :p**

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><p>Delilah stood in front of the long mirror by her window, examining herself critically. She knew that she would probably just get dirty at the bonfire from sitting on the ground, but she felt that she should still wear something nice. She had dug around in her closet for a while, looking for something suitable; she was sure no one would be wearing a dress of anything, and she still wanted to look good without looking out of place. Not that she wouldn't look out of place, anyway, surrounded by the members of the pack, who were all dark skinned and completely huge.<p>

Eventually, she had found an old top Alice had bought her about a year before. It was a very light blue cotton shirt, simple but pretty. Over that, she put on a see-through lace shawl, and then slipped into some dark jeans and a pair of white high tops.

Satisfied with how that part of her looked, she her attention was drawn to her face.

She'd never really looked at her face before. There were her thin eyebrows, her small lips (chapped from how much she'd been biting them lately), her large blue eyes on her pale, heart-shaped face, framed by reddish hair that Rosalie called strawberry blonde. The features were all hers, and she recognized them, but she couldn't help wondering what they looked like to other people. Was she pretty? Did other people think she was pretty? Did _he_ think she was pretty?

She bit her lip, fidgeting with her top and scrutinizing herself some more. Should she try to wear makeup? Alice and Rosalie had done her face up lots of times before, and it had looked pretty, but she wasn't sure it would look the same if she tried to do it herself. She would have just asked one of them to do it for her, but she was too embarrassed- she had never actually _asked_ them to do her makeup before.

She reluctantly decided to leave her face as it was, and made her way down to the family room, where Rosalie was waiting for her. Alice scrutinized her outfit from her seat at the window.

"Hmm," she said. "A little more simple than usual, but pretty. Okay, you have my approval."

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><p>Rosalie drove her to Bella's house, where Edward's Volvo was waiting in the driveway. Bella and Edward stood talking, holding hands and gazing into each other's eyes. It looked like an intimate moment, and Delilah felt a twinge at having to interrupt them.<p>

"Delilah," Bella waved at her, and Delilah noticed that she looked excited, for the bonfire, she presumed.

"Hey, Bella," Delilah said, smiling at her as she waved back a little shyly. She could tell from the way that the older girl's eyes lit up a little that Bella was happy that they were getting along, if at least a little.

"So what do you think will happen at the bonfire?" Bella asked her.

Delilah knew that Bella was making an attempt at conversation- an attempt at making friends with her- but to her it just felt a little awkward. She shrugged her shoulders. "Your guess is probably as good as mine- I've never been to the reservation."

"Oh, I think you'll like it," Bella said without hesitation. "It's kind of quiet there, but the pack makes up for it when they're all together."

The ride in the car was relatively silent on Delilah's end. She was in the backseat, looking out the window and occasionally glancing at Bella and Edward, who were having a conversation that she hadn't bothered to even try following.

Once, Edward glanced back at her through the rearview mirror, and her brow furrowed. She hadn't really been thinking much of anything, let alone something that would get his attention, so she wondered why he was looking at her all of a sudden. But in the next moment, as she slyly shifted her attention to Bella out of the corner of her eye, she understood- the girl's eyes were focused on her.

She really was trying to make it look like she wasn't staring, so Delilah forgave her for her for the slightly creepy look, but Bella really should have known better than to try to hide what she was doing when she was in a car with two Cullens. Given, the only vampire in the car was Edward, but she had lived with the Cullen family long enough to pick up most of their mannerisms, one of which being that she could generally tell when someone was looking at her. _Really_, she thought, unable to help it. _Common sense, Bella_.

Bella soon seemed to notice that Edward had noticed that she had been looking at Delilah, and she turned her head, looking out the windshield instead. Delilah sighed, relieved. No matter how much Bella loved Edward and vice versa, she always somehow felt like she was always under a microscope when her adoptive brother's girlfriend was around.

She didn't bother stopping to wonder why Bella had been staring at her- it was no secret that Bella thought she was intriguing, being not completely human and all.

When they finally got to the border, Jacob was waiting there with his car. Edward leaned over and kissed Bella firmly, and Delilah couldn't help but smirk- there was no doubt that he was trying to tell Jacob to back off. But it didn't really work so well; when they crossed the border, the first thing that Jacob did was walk right up to Bella and hug her tightly. Delilah shook her head as she got in the car, listening to the Volvo's engine growl as it sped off. It wasn't really fair, the game they were playing with Bella (or the game she was playing with them), but she wasn't about to get in the middle of it.

At the bonfire, Jacob was greeted by the pack members, who seemed to immediately take a liking to Delilah and Bella. The boys were charming in their own way, but after a few minutes, Delilah couldn't help but be a little tired of their constant banter and general loudness. She guessed that it was something she would have to get used to.

A young woman standing nearby seemed to notice that Delilah looked a little uncomfortable, because she made her way over. When her face came into the light of the setting sun, Delilah had to fight not to let her expression change. One side of the woman's face was horribly disfigured by three long, jagged scares. She tried not to stare, feeling guilty at her reaction.

"I'm Emily," the woman said kindly, shaking Delilah's hand and smiling. Despite the scars that marred Emily's face, Delilah was beginning to notice all the little things that made the woman beautiful, but her kindness definitely outshined everything else. Suddenly, Delilah could see why all the pack members loved her.

She smiled back, quickly brushing a lock of hair out of her face as the suddenly picked up. "I'm Delilah," she said shyly.

"Come sit with us," Emily implored, leading Delilah over to a man she recognized, Sam. When she looked back, she noticed that Bella and Jacob had settled down on the ground with a group of his friends. She hesitated a moment, then followed Emily. Carlisle had said to stay close to Bella, but it wasn't like she had to hold her hand the whole time.

Being young, they saved the seats for the elders and sat on the cold ground, with Delilah on one side of Emily and Sam on the other. For a few minutes, they made conversation, and Delilah found that Emily was easier to talk to than she had thought (and definitely much easier to talk to than Bella- although it sounded mean, she was glad she had sat with Emily instead).

"Do they always eat like that?" Delilah asked, alluding to Embry, who was on his tenth hot dog and still going strong.

Emily laughed. "One downside of knowing wolves- well, for someone who has to cook for them, anyway- is the huge appetite," she said. "Those boys will eat me out of house and home someday."

They both grew quiet for a moment; it was a comfortable silence, and Delilah was so relaxed in this company that she almost didn't notice that someone's gaze was on her. She looked up to meet Paul's eyes. He was sitting near Jared and Kim but looked like he wanted to be somewhere else. She smiled at him shyly and was surprised when he stood, making his way over to them.

He sat down next to her, nodding a greeting to Sam and Emily. "So, you enjoying yourself so far?" he asked her, leaning back in a relaxed manner but looking a little nervous. Delilah realized that she was grinning like an idiot and stopped, switching to her usual slight smile; Paul's expression seemed to fall a little in response.

"Yeah, it's really nice to meet all the pack members formally like this- I like being able to put a name to a human face. Um, but," she said hesitantly. "Is this all that happens at a bonfire? The way you talked about it, it seemed like it would be a much more important kind of thing." She blushed slightly and looked at her hands, wondering if he would be offended because she had insinuated that the bonfire as it was was not important enough for her.

Paul chuckled, looking across at all the other people gathered, to Jared and Kim, and Seth and Leah, and all of Jacob's friends and the elders, before his brown eyes swiftly came back to her. "Just wait for it," he told her. "There's more."

"More?" she questioned, raising her eyebrow.

Paul's expression was mockingly mischievous, and she could tell that he liked keeping her asking questions. "This isn't just an all you can eat buffet for the pack, you know. Otherwise, why would the elders be here?" he hinted.

"So… The elders are going to say something to everyone?"

"One of them," Paul acknowledged. "Billy will tell a story in a few minutes."

"A story? What kind?" For some reason, Delilah didn't think the muscular boys of the pack would enjoy just any old bedtime story. Paul seemed to guess what she was thinking, because he laughed.

For the next few minutes, she and Paul talked about what exactly would transpire in this story. He wouldn't share too many details, seemingly enjoying all her attention, but from what he did tell her, Delilah deduced that it was a legend about the Quileute wolves, about how they came to be.

From time to time, she noticed Bella looking at her, and once when she thought Delilah wasn't looking, the girl had pointed the two of them out to Jacob. She wondered what was so special about she and Paul talking to each other that would make Bella look so genuinely curious.

Finally, Billy Black cleared his throat. "The Quileutes have been a small people from the beginning. And we are a small people still, but we have never disappeared. This is because there has always been magic in our blood. It wasn't always the magic of shape-shifting- that came later.

"First we were spirit warriors."

Delilah leaned forward, caught up by the strangely majestic tone of Billy's voice as he began the story. Beside her, Emily was scribbling his words down quickly on a pad of paper, hurriedly trying to get every last one.

Everyone seemed to be in some sort of trance, listening closely to Billy as he told the story of the spirit warriors, how Utlapa had deceived Taha Aki, stealing his body and leaving none for Taha Aki's spirit to attach itself to, and forbade the spirit warriors to enter the spirit world. He told of how Taha Aki and the wolf had shared a body, and gone down into the village to warn the people of Utlapa's betrayal. The rage Taha Aki had felt at the murder of one of his people by Utlapa had caused the wolf the transform into a man. From then on, the spirit warriors began to change into wolves, each one's different appearance a symbol of their different spirits.

It was jolting when Delilah heard Quil grumble something about Sam having a black coat to match his soul. She glanced at the alpha to see that he had ignored Quil, but Emily had paused in her writing for a moment to give the boy a slightly scolding look. Sam put his arm around Emily and she leaned into him, looking comfortable. Delilah really didn't mean to stare at them, but the two just seemed so in sync with each other, two pieces of the same puzzle, two hearts beating as one. She noticed belatedly that Billy was speaking again.

"Taha Aki had lived the span of three old men's lives. He had married a third wife after the deaths of the first two, and found in her his true spirit wife. Though he had loved the others, this was something else. He decided to give up his spirit wolf so that he would die when she did."

Delilah felt the corner of her lips turn up in a smile. She could just imagine the kind of love Taha Aki had held for the third wife, to give up an eternity so that they could die together, so that he wouldn't have to be heart broken when she left him. She glanced at Paul to see that he was watching her closely, dark eyes unreadable. She was about to ask him what he was thinking when Old Quil Ateara began to speak.

"That was the story of the spirit warriors. This is the story of the third wife's sacrifice."

He went on, but after a while Delilah only half heard him. The sound of his voice was relaxing, and between the fire and being near so many of the wolves, she felt so warm. It wasn't long before her eyelids were drooping and she was leaning on the thing nearest to her, falling asleep.

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><p>Paul tried to listen to Old Quil, but it was difficult to pay attention to anything but the beautiful girl sleeping against his chest. Each slow, even breath on him was like a little electrical shock, and he shivered each time one of her deep exhales swept across his skin. The wind blew her hair around for a minute before it finally settled on his stomach, tickling him. Holding his breath, he reached out and carefully picked up the strand and moved it away. Not able to help himself, his hand traveled up to her head, his fingers moving her hair away from her face, tucking it behind her ear. He touched her cheek; her skin was soft as silk, pale as the moon.<p>

He pulled his hand away quickly when she shifted in her sleep and didn't have the courage to touch her again. Instead, he just looked at her, noticing how her expression sometimes changed, how the corner of her lips sometimes twitched. She was beautiful, there was no way around it- and especially when she was sleeping. He had only seen her asleep a few times at the trainings with the bloodsuckers, and he had never been close enough to actually study her face.

He was so distracted by her that it seemed like no time at all had gone by before Old Quil had finished his story and everyone was going home. Paul lifted Delilah carefully into his arms as Bella and Jacob made their way over to him. She felt so tiny in his arms, little more than a doll, and he didn't want to let Jacob carry her. But he reluctantly handed her over, watching as the three of them disappeared to go find Jacob's car.

There were few people left now, and all of them were talking quietly to each other. He sighed, sitting down heavily on a piece of driftwood that had been dragged up the beach for a seat. His head was in his hands, eyes closed, when he heard someone approaching. He looked up as Sam sat down next to him.

"It's bittersweet, you know?" He didn't know why he wanted to share his feelings all of a sudden, but he went with it anyway.

"What is?" Sam asked, even though Paul had a feeling he already knew.

"When I see her, even if it's just for a moment, it's like nothing else in the whole world, like I'm in some kind of perfect place- heaven. But then she leaves, to go home to _them_, and I remember that I have to be careful. I remember that one wrong move could take her away from me. One wrong move and I won't have anything left. I can't take care of her like I want to- I have to let other people make sure she's okay and happy.

"I just don't know who I am anymore. Before, I was a hot-headed jerk who always wanted his own way- that was me. Then all of a sudden I see _her face_ and it's like I'm a different person, and I _want_ to be a different person, for _her_."

Sam said nothing for a good long time; Paul knew that his silence was supposed to be supportive, but what he wanted was reassurance. He turned to the man. "Does it ever get easier?"

Sam's eyes weren't on him- they were looking across the way, where Leah and Seth stood. Leah's face was nearly hidden by shadows, but Paul could still make out the scowl on her face.

Sam finally turned back to him. "It hasn't for me. There are many people that I've hurt because of my imprint and because I'm a wolf. But when you're with your imprint, everything is just better. It's not that you forget about the struggles you've gone through or the things you've put others through, but being with her makes everything, even the guilt, worth it."

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><p>When Delilah woke up, it was to the hushed voices of Bella and Jacob and the hum of the engine. The first thing she saw when she opened her eyes were trees, passing by quickly, making her a little dizzy; she was leaning against the window. She must've fallen asleep at the Bonfire. She felt her face heat up in embarrassment; someone had obviously had to carry her back to the car, and she hoped to the heavens that she hadn't been drooling or anything.<p>

Her cheek was frozen from leaning against the cold window, so she shifted down in her seat a little, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. It was easier to just keep pretending to be asleep, because that way she could turn the night's events over and over in her head without any interruptions.

She felt guilty about drifting off during such an important story; she wondered if she could get Bella to tell it to her sometime later. Her mind went back to the end of the first story, how Taha Aki had given up imortality to be with the one he loved. Again, she wondered what kind of love was that strong, how someone could give up eternal life for someone who could just as easily change their mind about them altogether. She cursed herself as Paul's face came unbidden to her mind, his eyes watching her carefully, his mouth turned down slightly at the edges.

She shook her head to clear it, wincing when she realized that the two in the front seat could have seen her. But they just continued their muted conversation, and she let out a silent breath of relief. Knowing that they would be near Forks any moment now, she tried to clear her mind, leaning back further in her seat as she relaxed. Despite the cold weather outside, her skin felt very warm, warmer than she had felt in months, and she knew she wouldn't have any trouble sleeping that night.

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><p><strong>AN: So what do you think?<strong>


	22. The Battle

**AN: Hey, readers! First off, I just want to say how grateful I am to all of you guys! Seriously, thank you so much to everybody that has stuck with this story so far (even though it takes me forever to update sometimes), and also to anyone who just found this story and has actually read this far! ^-^ **

**When I first wrote this chapter, which was actually quite a while ago, the plot for this whole fic was _way_ different, so I had to do some major tweaking here and there, but I hope it's worth it anyway! :)**

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><p>Delilah stood in the family room, watching with a wary feeling as the Cullens left. She tried to keep the tears she'd been holding in from appearing in her eyes or her expression, and she must have succeeded, because no one seemed to notice.<p>

"Don't worry, Lila Jo," Emmett reassured her easily. "We'll be back before you know it."

She nodded, accepting the tight hug Rosalie gave her. "Are you sure you don't want me to drop you off at Basil's house now?" the blond questioned, brushing Delilah's hair back from her face, golden eyes taking her in.

Delilah shook her head. "It's okay, Rose. I'm old enough to be home by myself for a little while. Besides, it's too early to go right now."

Rosalie nodded reluctantly, and the two left to catch up with the others. Delilah stood there for a moment, feeling nauseous. What if something happened to them? Or to Bella? Or- she froze for a moment- the wolves?

She shivered, quickly pulling the curtains shut against the window and going to sit on the sofa. She flipped the TV on just for the sake of having noise. There was some sort of cooking show on, and she watched it for a while, grimacing from time to time at the food they were preparing, none of which looked especially appetizing to her.

She was just frowning at the chef, who was chopping up a raw chicken, when she thought she heard a noise near the front door. She turned the sound down on the TV, cocking her head to the side and listening carefully. There it was again. A slight rustling sound, like feet. It sounded like it was coming from outside.

She rose cautiously from the sofa, creeping slowly to the front door and pressing her ear up against it. There was definitely someone outside. The footsteps crunched in the snow that the wind had blown onto the front porch, and as she listened, they seemed to come closer suddenly.

Her heart leapt into her throat and she backed away from the door quickly, trying to stay quiet. Maybe whoever it was would leave. Then she heard a loud sound, and saw the door handle rattle back and forth. They were trying to get in.

She fought the urge to hide and backed up to the kitchen counter, where the knives were. She grabbed the sharpest one. If it was a vampire, it would do little, but then again, a vampire would have just broken down the door.

The chef on the TV cheerily rambled on mutely while she stared at the front door, but she could just imagine what he was saying: "_Now for the turkey. Remember to chop the head off first- don't worry if you make a mess, that's what towels are for_-!"

The person outside seemed to give up for a moment, and Delilah sighed quietly. Her relief was short-lived, however, as they promptly began to rattle the doorknob even more. She advanced to the door, raising the knife a little.

"Delilah!"

The knife clattered loudly to the floor, and her heartbeat spiked.

"Delilah, if you don't open this door I'm going to kick it in!"

She hurried forward and unlocked the door, jumping back as it sprang open and Paul strode into the house. He immediately hugged her tightly, and normally she would have shied away, but Delilah was so shocked that she stood there limply, her arms flopping down to her sides. He pulled back a little, loosening his embrace.

"Why didn't you open the door? I thought you were hurt."

"I-I thought you were someone else," Delilah stammered, barely able to choke the words out. Paul released her, his gaze going to the knife that lay abandoned on the floor. Giving her a wary look, he picked it up and put it back in the kitchen; Delilah followed at his heels.

"What's going on?" She asked worriedly, touching his arm tentatively. "Did something happen?"

His eyes were glued to her hand, and he smiled slightly as he answered her. "Everything's fine- they haven't even showed yet. I'm supposed to be out there right now, but I had to come here first to make sure you were okay."

Delilah sighed in relief, but her brow remained furrowed. "I can't help feeling worried." She felt her throat constrict a little at the thought of the Cullens returning home with one less member. Whether it was one of the Cullens themselves or Bella, who had sort of been adopted into the family through Edward, it would hurt just as much.

Paul's eyes softened immediately, and she saw pain flash briefly across his face, tightening his features. He smiled at her ruefully. "Everything's going to be fine. We'll take care of those newborns, don't worry. But shouldn't you be somewhere else?"

Delilah nodded, checking her watch. "I'm supposed to be going to my friend Basil's house right now. I would have left before now, but the idea of driving in this snow makes me kind of nervous."

"Oh. I can drive you, if you want me to."

She shook her head, letting some of her hair fall into her eyes (Paul's hand twitched). "I'll just take the jeep- I'm sure I'll be fine."

"If you're sure," Paul said a little awkwardly, shifting his weight from his right foot to his left. "I guess I should go."

Delilah nodded, watching as he made his way out onto the porch. After taking a few moments to gather her courage, she gave in to her impulse to run after him. He was at the edge of the woods by then, but he turned when she said his name.

"Good luck," she murmured quietly, but he heard her anyway and gave her a cocky grin.

"We won't need it!"

Once he was gone, Delilah set out for Basil's house in the jeep, her heart beating loudly in her ears the whole way. She had never felt comfortable in cars, and she was sure that at any moment she would hit a sheet of ice and be sent careening off the road, into the frozen winter woods. She focused on keeping her eyes on the road, her knuckles white as she clutched the steering wheel for dear life.

It felt like some kind of miracle when she reached Basil's house unscathed, and she jumped out of the car feeling more than relieved. Basil must have heard the car in her driveway, because she was soon at the door in a pair of sweats and her bunny slippers, hugging herself against the biting wind.

"It's about time," she complained as Delilah stripped off her coat and gloves, stomping her shoes on the welcome mat. "I was getting ready to call out a search party!"

Delilah huffed. "Well, if you had to drive all the way from the Cullens' house to yours on ice covered roads, you would take your time, too."

"Okay, fine, I can see your point," Basil admitted, closing the door firmly and shivering. "Anyway, Mom went to drop off Jay at Greg's house so they could play- she'll be back soon enough, unfortunately. What do you want to do till then?"

"I don't know," Delilah said. "Did you rent any movies?"

"Oh yeah," Basil said as the two made their way into the living room. "You're gonna love this one. It's about a serial killer who sneaks into this girl's house, and the whole time he's in there stalking her, but she doesn't know he's there. According to Jill, it has a freak surprise ending." She sighed gustily then. "She got to see it almost for free 'cause of her employee discount- _so_ not fair."

"Maybe you should get a job there if you want an employee discount," Delilah teased, knowing that Basil would never, ever get a job if she could help it.

Basil gave her exactly the reaction she was looking for; she put both her hands on her hips and stuck out her jaw stubbornly. "_Lila, _hon_, we've been over this_," she said in the sickeningly sweet voice of Mrs. Dubois, the little old lady she had gotten the part for in auditions for the school play that Friday. "_Me and jobs just don't mix. You know how busy I am nowadys, what with all the little youngsters I just... have.. to... _kill_..._"

Delilah fought the urge to snort. "Yeah. I'm still mad at you for that, you know."

Basil had waited until Delilah had already bought tickets to tell her that what she'd assumed was just another frilly, humorous musical, thought up (as usual) by the Pep Comittee, was actually a play from the dark, twisted recesses of Basil's overly dramatic, overly imaginative mind. Basil had been so adamantly insistent with the head of the Drama department that she'd been allowed to pitch in for writing of the play for that semester ("pitching in" apparently meant haggling each and every one of the other writers until they eventually gave in and _'loved'_ her idea). Basil seemed to think that a good ending was overrated; by the end of the play, everyone was either dead, missing a limb, or otherwise incapacitated.

Basil shrugged. "Hey, if I hadn't conveniently forgotten about it, you wouldn't have bought tickets. Anyway, what do you think? About the movie."

It was Delilah's turn to shrug. "Sounds good, I guess."

They settled in the living room, getting comfortable on the couch, and Basil slipped the disk into the DVD player. It started out well enough, but as the movie went on, Delilah felt herself getting more and more nervous. Every little thing in the movie seemed to remind her of the fact that the Cullens and the wolves would be risking their lives fighting off an army of newborn vampires. Granted, she suspected that it wasn't just the movie that was reminding her of it, but it served as fuel to the fire.

Beside her, Basil seemed to be completely fine, which wasn't unusual at all, since the girl didn't seem to be afraid of anything. Delilah found herself wincing as the killer sliced the family dog's head off to keep it quiet, but Basil laughed at how fake she said it looked. Delilah thought it looked pretty real.

Finally, she couldn't take it anymore and grabbed the remote, quickly clicking the TV off.

"_He-ey_," Basil whined. "What did you do that for? It was in the middle of a good part!"

Delilah tried to disguise her shaking hands by hiding them underneath her legs. "Nothing.. I just thought it was kind of stupid," she said as flippantly as she could; Basil seemed to see right through her.

"_Uh-uh_, Lila, you're forgetting that I know you. You're scared!"

"I am not!" Delilah said stubbornly, feeling her face heat up.

"Yes you are, you are so scared," Basil snickered, cracking up.

"Whatever," Delilah said, scowling. It was like arguing with a four-year-old.

"Okay," Basil said mischievously. "If you're not scared, let's take a little walk."

"What do you mean?" Delilah questioned, wary of the sudden excited glint in her best friend's eye.

"I mean, let's go outside for a bit," Basil said excitedly, clapping her hands together. "Ooh, we can make snow angels and snowmen and have a snowball fight!"

"Uh, what does throwing snow at each other have to do with me being scared?"

"Okay, so it doesn't. But it just sounds so fun, and it's so _boring_ in here, especially since you got _scared_ and turned the movie off," she taunted, giggling as Delilah snapped, "I _wasn't_ scared!"

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><p>Delilah tugged on Basil's puffy neon tangerine-colored coat, trying to slow the redhead down. "Come on, Basil, we shouldn't be out in the woods right now."<p>

Basil gave her a strange look, her eyebrows raised. "In the middle of the day? Why are you acting so weird? Any other time, you'd be all gung ho about tramping around in the middle of nowhere for a few hours."

Delilah fidgeted and stopped walking altogether. "I just don't think we should right now." The nauseous feeling that had been in the pit of her stomach all afternoon seemed to have amplified.

"Aw, come on, Lila! Where's your sense of adventure? I mean, we could meet a handsome woodsman out here, or a cute logger, or a buff hiker, or- _ow_!" Delilah ran to her friend, who had tripped over her own feet and went crashing to the forest floor, her leggings catching on a branch as she went down.

"Okay, so maybe tramping around in the woods wasn't such a good idea after all," Basil grumbled, pulling up her ripped leggings to see the damage. Delilah felt her face pale drastically as she saw that Basil's leg was bleeding pretty badly and that the blood had gotten on the snow around them.

She shivered. The newborns couldn't smell blood from that far away… _right_? And besides, the Cullens and the wolves would have taken care of them all. The bad feeling in her stomach worsened to the point of actual pain, and she pulled Basil up to stand. "We should go home. Now."

Basil grimaced. "Alright, alright. I didn't know you were scared of blood, Lila. You should see your face right now- you look like you've seen a ghost."

Delilah tried to look normal, despite her sudden urge to bring up the little breakfast she'd been able to eat that day. "Something like that, yeah."

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><p>The pungent stink of burning vampire flesh filled the small clearing as Jasper and Emmett disposed of the last newborn. The Quileutes gathered around Jacob, who lay writhing on the ground, face creased all over in agony. Carlisle was leaning over him, trying to figure out what should be done.<p>

"Jacob, I had him!" Leah yelled, guilt hiding behind the anger on her face as she ran from the trees where she had changed forms and hurriedly pulled on her clothes. Quil and Embry, back in their human form also, held her back at Sam's gesture.

"Carlisle," Edward said suddenly. "One of them got away."

Carlisle glanced up momentarily. "We can send a couple of us after him. Where is he?"

"He's heading in the direction of the town- he caught the scent of human blood."

"You don't think-"

"I see him," Alice said worriedly. "I see him in the woods near Basil's house."

"Delilah!" Rosalie gasped, making to run in the direction of town, only to be stopped by Emmett's tight grasp on her arms. She turned to him and snarled, ready to rip his head off if he wouldn't let go.

"We all have to be here to greet the Volturi or they'll be suspicious," Alice said frantically.

"I don't care what the Volturi think!" Rosalie shrieked, fighting against Emmett's strong arms. "Let me go, Emmett! It's _Delilah_!"

"I know, babe," he said, working a muscle in his jaw. "But if we get the Volturi suspicious and they find out what you're doing, it'll only bring more attention to her."

Edward turned quickly to Paul, who was still in wolf form, body taut with horrific anticipation, and nodded quickly. The wolf took off sprinting, his legs reaching, each powerful lunge taking him farther from the Cullens, closer to Delilah.

"Seth, go with him."

Seth followed behind, running as fast as was possible in the wake of his panicked pack mate.

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><p>"Basil, we should really go inside," Delilah wheedled, standing anxiously by the door. Then again, what good would being inside do? Four walls and a locked door wouldn't stop a thirsty newborn vampire, and she knew it.<p>

Basil crossed her arms and cocked her hip to one side. "What is wrong with you today? We _were_ just inside, remember? To put like, twenty-thousand Band-Aids on my leg. I mean come on, I actually _want_ to be outside for once, and you're just going to shoot me down?"

Delilah sighed, reluctantly settled down on the porch swing next to her friend. She would just have to hope that nothing bad would happen, but if something were to happen, they were nothing but sitting ducks.

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><p>The grey wolf's feet pounded hard into the frozen ground, carrying him as fast as he could push himself. His wolf instinct dominated his weaker human one, and there was only one single thought on his mind, one single word that stood out from all the others.<p>

_Protect_.

He had to protect her from the bloodsucker. Had to make sure she was safe so that he could look into her eyes and live because _she_ was alive. He would rip apart the thing if it even _tried_ to lay a hand on her. He would destroy _anything_ that _ever_ tried to come near her and harm her.

Seth was somewhere behind him, and he knew that all the others could hear his thoughts, but he didn't try to filter anything in his mind.

He just kept running.

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><p>"I wonder why Mom hasn't gotten home yet," Basil said, shoving her hands in her huge coat pockets and burying them there.<p>

"Streets are slick, maybe," Delilah murmured distractedly, staring out into the woods.

"Probably," Basil agreed, scooting back on the porch swing so that she could dangle her legs a few inches from the floor. Delilah, who didn't have to scoot back to let her legs dangle, tried to ignore the movement as the redhead began to swing her legs back and forth, rubbing her nose absentmindedly.

It happened so quickly.

All Delilah had had time to say was:

"Did you hear that?"

And then Basil was pinned to the ground, struggling to make sense of what was happening as something pressed down on her with the weight of a car, and a sharp, searing pain filled her bandaged leg.

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><p><strong>AN: Ah, cliff hangers. Every writer does it when they're feeling especially evil...<strong>

**Review if you want to! :D**


	23. A Rescue

**AN: Happy Halloween, people of the internet! I wanted to give you guys something special for the occasion, so here you go! I'll also be posting a Halloween one-shot with Little Delilah in it, so be sure to go check that out! I'll be uploading it sometime tonight, or maybe tomorrow if I don't have time to tonight :p**

**On a side note, passing out Halloween candy in a crummy neighborhood is like watching molasses drip- boring. :/**

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><p>The momentum of the vampire landing on the swing caused Delilah to be thrown off, and the wind was forcefully knocked out of her as her back slammed into the porch railing.<p>

She saw the vampire too late, but before she even had time to scream, there was a huge wolf clamping down on the vampire's neck with powerful jaws, ripping it off of Basil and throwing it over to another wolf that had followed behind. The newborn tried to struggle, but in moments the wolves had ripped it to shreds between the two of them.

Delilah stood stock still, feeling faint with horror. It seemed like Seth came out of nowhere, until she realized that he was one of the wolves.

"Delilah," he said, touching her arm to bring her out of her stupor. "Where are the matches?"

Delilah fought to keep her eyes on his and not on the dismembered vampire body that lay behind him, or Basil's prone form beneath the porch swing. "In the kitchen," she said faintly. "Cupboard above the stove."

Seth disappeared, leaving her to drop down to her knees next to Basil's still body. She could hear Paul snapping tree limbs off an old, dead oak in the front yard, making suitable firewood to burn. She paid no attention to him, reaching out with trembling hands to turn her best friend's body over. She had hit her head on the swing and had been knocked unconscious, but she was still breathing, and as far as Delilah could tell, nothing above her waist was broken. She dragged the rest of Basil's body out from under the swing, tears slipping down her face as she warily glanced at her leg.

Her heart and her stomach met in her throat as she realized that there was no bite mark there. The bone was obviously broken, judging from the awkward angle it was in, but she was not going to be a vampire.

Basil was _alive_.

Delilah felt all the breath rush out of her lungs in one great whoosh, and she slumped heavily back against the railing, closing her eyes and trying to breathe.

Seth came back out with the matches and he and Paul made a fire in the yard, throwing the body pieces of the vampire into it. Delilah pulled her coat up to cover her nose against the foul smell. When the fire had died down enough for them to see nothing but ashes left from the body parts, Seth set to work putting out the still glowing embers.

Paul was by her side in a second, taking her hands away from her face and pulling her up to stand. She grimaced as her back protested, and he let go of her immediately, like he thought he had hurt her.

"Are you okay?" he asked lowly, leaning down to her level; since she was already hunching over, Delilah felt like laughing at how funny he looked scrunched down like that. If it were a different situation, she might have. As it was, she was only able to wheeze out, "I'm fine. Help Basil."

Paul looked reluctant to leave her, but went over to Basil anyway, quickly taking in her injuries. "She wasn't bitten," Delilah said, gaining a little of her breath back. "But I think her leg is broken. We should call Carlisle."

"Carlisle's with Jake," Seth said, his brow creasing. "Would he have time to help?"

"He's with Jacob?" Delilah questioned. "Why? What happened?"

Paul gave Seth a feral look, and the younger boy rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Paul?" Delilah said anxiously. "What happened to Jacob?"

Paul's eyes softened at her tone. "A newborn got a hold of him, broke some bones. He'll be fine, Delilah."

"Was anyone else hurt?"

"No," Paul reassured her quickly. "No one else got hurt."

Delilah breathed a sigh of relief, then glanced at Basil again. "We should take her to the hospital, then."

Paul nodded, lifting Basil up into his arms, being careful of her broken leg. "What about her parents?"

"I'll call her mom," Delilah said, pulling out her cell phone, only to find that it had been crushed between her and the railing. There was a huge crack in the middle of the screen, and when she tried to turn it on, it remained black. "I'll stay behind and call her from the house phone. You guys take Basil to the hospital."

"No," Paul said. "You're hurt, too. I'm not leaving you by yourself right now."

He carefully transferred Basil from his arms to Seth's. "Take her to the hospital- I'll stay with Delilah."

"Take the jeep," Delilah instructed. Seth nodded, shifting Basil's weight to free one hand so that he could take the keys Delilah pulled out of her pocket.

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><p>Delilah heaved a giant sigh after hanging up the phone, rubbing her palms against her face. She could sense Paul's presence in the doorway as he watched her. "Basil's mom is headed over to the hospital right now," she said finally, turning around and leaning against the counter.<p>

"What about the Cullens?" Paul questioned.

Delilah tried to smile, but it felt more like a grimace. "If I know Rosalie, she'll be on her way here by now."

She tried to lean further on the counter, but yelped as her bruised back protested. Paul was at her side in a moment, his warm hand on her arm. "You're hurt," he said, like he was just remembering. "Let me see."

"It's nothing," Delilah started, but at the look on Paul's face, she reluctantly turned around and lifted the back of her shirt so that he could see the bruise. She felt like she should be self conscious in front of him, but she found it comforting that all he did was glance at the bruise before he pulled her shirt back down.

"You should have Carlisle check that out," he said, turning her back around. Carlisle's name sounded weird when Paul said it, and Delilah wondered if he was uncomfortable saying it.

"I will," she said wearily, slumping down into a chair at the kitchen table. She laid her head in her hands, feeling tears prick her eyes as the full force of what had happened hit her. Basil had almost been bitten- had almost become a _vampire_- and it was completely her fault.

Paul quickly crouched down next her as the tears slipped out, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Hey," he said softly. "Everything's going to be okay."

"If I hadn't come over here, Basil would never have been in danger at all," Delilah whispered guiltily.

He took her chin gently in his warm hand and made her look at him. "Delilah, what happened wasn't your fault. You had no idea what was going to happen."

"But that's the thing," Delilah said, feeling more tears leak out. "I had a _feeling_. I should have tried harder to get her to go inside."

"What good would that have done? He would've gotten in anyway- he would have destroyed the house and then you'd have had to explain that to Basil's mom too. There was nothing you could have done."

Delilah wanted to thank him, but the sound of a car door shutting echoed through the still open front door, and Rosalie was in the kitchen a second later. She convulsively wrinkled her nose as she smelled Paul, and even though Delilah knew she was trying to remain stony, her expression plainly showed her disgust.

She quickly made her way to Delilah's side and threw her arms around the girl. "Are you alright? I'm so sorry I wasn't here! I swear I would've come if I'd been able to, but the Volturi-"

"Rose, I'm okay. But Basil- he jumped on her, broke her leg- she wasn't bitten, but it's my-" Delilah broke off before she could force the word _fault_ out.

Rosalie squeezed her gently, rubbing her hands along Delilah's back. "Let's go," she said. "I'm guessing Basil's in the hospital right now?" Delilah nodded, following her out the door and closing it after Paul came through.

Paul's eyes wouldn't leave her face, but she was surprised when he talked to her again. "It'll be fine," he said, his gaze burning holes into her. He paused for a moment, unsure, then asked her for a pen. She looked at Rosalie, who dug one out of her purse and handed it to her, then walked to the car, as if trying to give them privacy.

Paul reached out for her hand, and she thought he was going to grab the pen. He did, but he also took her hand, writing something on it. When he pulled away sheepishly, handing her the pen back, she glanced at the palm of her hand.

"It's my number," he said slowly, like he was trying to find the right words. "If you ever need to talk, I'll always answer."

Without waiting for her response, he turned on his heel, disappearing into the forest. Delilah stood there for a moment, looking at her hand and feeling dazed. Vaguely, she thought how funny Basil would find that- a vampire comes out of nowhere, knocks them both to the floor and almost kills Basil, and she gets the number of one of their werewolf saviors.

She shook her head, getting into Rosalie's car and leaning back in the seat. Rosalie stiffly reminded her to put her seat belt on, and Delilah looked over at her. She held the steering wheel in clenched hands, and her features were reigned in tight. Delilah suddenly felt guilty for letting Paul stay behind with her, for letting him see her bruises. The seven numbers on her hand seared her skin as she swallowed heavily.

She put on her seat belt with shaking hands, and Rosalie finally pulled out of the driveway, taking them to Forks hospital.

* * *

><p>The moment Delilah stepped into the waiting room, she felt sick to her stomach. She had always hated hospitals, and the feeling was only magnified with Basil's presence there.<p>

She spotted Basil's mom over in the corner, sitting with her hands on her head. Delilah approached her. "Ms. Davis?"

The woman looked up, then moved her things out of the seat next to her. "Delilah, sit, please."

Delilah sat down heavily, a huge sigh escaping her. "I'm so sorry, Ms. Davis. I just don't know-"

"It wasn't your fault," Ms. Davis said. "The boy who brought her in said that you two were attacked by a couple of bears."

Delilah froze for a moment, and then nodded slowly. Of course they couldn't tell her that they'd been attacked by a vampire. "It just happened so fast. . ." she trailed off lamely. "How's she doing?"

Ms. Davis grimaced. "They won't let me in right now since I'm family and I'm off the clock, but Nan took her break a few minutes ago and told me that her leg is broken in two places and she has a concussion." The woman sighed, going quiet again, and Delilah felt the guilt welling up in her eyes once more. she stood abruptly, wiping her eyes on her coat sleeves.

"I- I'll be right back." She excused herself to the bathroom, hands trembling.

She stood in front of the bathroom mirror for the longest time, splashing water on her face and just breathing. She jumped when a nurse came out of one of the stalls, walking up to the sink next to her and turning the water on. Delilah hurriedly wiped the remainder of her tears away, facing away from the woman to get a paper towel. She dried her face and hands carefully.

"Your makeup smeared," the woman said gently, grabbing a paper towel. Delilah's forehead crinkled. She hadn't been wearing any makeup.

She turned around to look in the mirror as the woman left the restroom. There were dark smudges under her eyes where she had been crying, and it took her a moment to realize that her hand was smudged as well where Paul had written his phone number.

Frantically she tried to decipher the numbers, squinting down at her hand. She was able to make out the first six numbers, but she couldn't tell if the last was a seven or a one. She sighed, quickly memorizing the other numbers- she would find out what the last one was later.

She pushed the bathroom door open and made her way back to Basil's mom, who was deep in coversation with who Delilah assumed was Basil's doctor. He seemed familiar, had probably worked with Carlisle. Doctor Young, she thought his name was. They both turned to her as she approached.

"Delilah," Ms. Davis said, beckoning her over. "I'm going to visit Basil."

Delilah at the doctor. "Can I go back too?"

"I'm sorry," Doctor Young said. "but only family is allowed back right now- Basil doesn't need to overexcite herself."

Delilah's face fell, but she forced a smile. "It's alright. I'll go home- will you call when she's allowed visitors?"

"Of course, hon." Basil's mom gave Delilah a pitying look before she followed the doctor down the hallway and to the elevator.

Delilah wandered around in the parking lot for a while, kicking her shoes on the ground, then decided to go and find Rosalie. Her sister was waiting by the car, cell phone pressed against her ear, hissing something into it. Delilah turned in the other direction, remembering how uncomfortable she had been in Rosalie's icy presence on the way there.

She stopped at the small coffee shop next door to the hospital, pushing the door open with a jingle and letting the smell of freshly brewed coffe, carried on wonderfully warm air, hit her. She stood there for a moment, until the employee wiping down a table nearby gave her a weird look, then she made her way to the counter, pulling her wallet out of her back pocket.

She ordered a cup of coffee, and was glad that the shop seemed abandoned, because she got her order so quickly that it hadn't had time to cool off. She wrapped her frozen fingers around it, vaguely realizing that she had left her gloves at Basil's house.

The door behind her jingled again, and Rose came in, glancing at the employee near the door. "We need to go," she said, putting a hand on Delilah's shoulder. "Basil's doctor won't be letting anyone but family see her right now, and everyone wants to see for themselves that you're okay."

Delilah nodded reluctantly, feeling resigned as she followed after the vampire, clutching her warm coffee like a lifeline.

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><p><strong>AN: Hope you guys liked this chapter! If so, kindly leave a review and let me know! :D<strong>


	24. Tension

**AN: Merry Christmas, you guys! :D**

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><p>The first thing that happened when they got home was that Delilah was immediately enveloped in Esme's arms.<p>

"Darling," the woman said, sighing in relief. "You have no idea how worried we were."

Everyone else, excluding Edward and Carlisle, was standing near her, waiting for their turn to embrace her, and for some reason, Delilah began to cry for the third time that day. She wished she could force herself to stop, but she'd already done that twice before and she was tired of that. She squeezed Esme tighter as the tears cascaded down her face, uncaring at the cold chill she got from her mother's freezing skin. Esme held her gently, her hand smoothing down Delilah's fly-away hair and whispering nonsense into her ear.

They stood there like that for a while as Delilah cried and cried, unable to stop. When she was finally able to gain some control, she caught some of what Esme was saying: "_Shh…you're home, darling…you're safe_…."

Delilah stiffened just the tiniest bit. Esme thought she was crying because she had been scared for her own life. She swallowed the lump in her throat as she looked up and saw Alice's concerned gaze. Jasper was standing behind the small vampire, arms around her waist. He was sending her soothing waves of emotion, but she knew that he could still feel the overbearing guilt that threatened to drown her. He understood, at least.

Still, she felt surprisingly hurt that the others all believed that she had been scared for her own life. Her survival had been the last thing on her mind in the short second the newborn had landed on Basil.

Suddenly she felt like she was suffocating in Esme's stone arms, all of their eyes on her, including Rosalie's. Delilah's memory snapped back to her sister's judgmental stare in the car after Paul had given Delilah his number, how she had felt guilty for talking to Paul at all when Rose's eyes had landed on her.

She broke away from Esme abruptly, rubbing her tears away harshly. "Can I go to my room?" she asked quietly, trying not to let Esme hear the bite in her voice. "I need to think."

Esme's soft smile was supportive, but Delilah could see the hurt lurking behind the kind woman's eyes. She turned away, climbing the stairs with a heavy heart. She couldn't believe she'd just gotten angry with Esme and the others for thinking she'd worried for herself. Of course that would be the first thing Esme, who was such a sweet woman and who had already lost a child, would worry about. How could she possibly blame her for that?

But though she knew rationally that there was no reason to be angry, her heart still clenched painfully at the thought of the Cullens thinking her so selfish. Was that how she usually acted? She shook the disturbing thought from her mind as she threw herself down on her bed. The painful throb in her back reminded her that she hadn't said anything about the minor injury to her family. She deliberated for a moment whether she should go back down to the family room, then shook her head- she would wait until Carlisle got home to show them. She felt a few more tears slip down her face as she lay there, feeling pathetic.

As she stared at her hands, she remembered Paul, and the number he had written on her palm. She stood up to pace back and forth for a few moments. She wanted to call him, more than anything, but she was unsure. Had he meant for her to call him another day? But hadn't he said to call anytime? She gave up arguing with herself, swiftly descending the stairs into the family room, straitening her coat, which she had not taken off.

"Darling, where are you going?" Esme asked her, golden eyes worried.

"Just for a walk," Delilah answered vaguely, trying to smile. She could feel everyone's eyes on her as she left the house, but she paid them no mind, closing the front door and shoving her hands deep in her pockets.

She walked for a long time, and eventually she reached the main road that led to town. Still she kept walking, trying to sort through her thoughts. It surprised her when she found herself in town.

She spotted a payphone a couple blocks away, and again she was struck with the want to call the number Paul had left her. She gave in this time, and jogged to the payphone, digging in her pockets for spare change. When she finally found some, she slid it into the machine and waited for the dial tone. She dialed the number from memory, putting a seven as the last number first.

The phone rang for a few minutes, and then a message came on: "_Hello, you have reached the Gallagher residence. Please leave a message at the sound of the tone. Thank you_."

Delilah hung up before she heard the beep and dug more change out of her pockets, dialing the number with a one at the end this time. This had to be Paul's number. But even though she was sure she had the right number, the phone just kept ringing, and no one answered.

She placed the phone back on the hook reluctantly, pushing away the tight feeling in her chest.

* * *

><p>Paul didn't stop to pick up the picture frame he knocked over as he raced to answer the phone. He'd been taking a nap, and when it rang the first few times, he'd thought it was some sort of alarm clock. Then he'd realized that it could be Delilah, and he'd never jumped out of bed so quickly in his life.<p>

He snatched the phone off of the kitchen table and answered it, only to hear that the person had hung up. He plopped down at the table and put his hands on his head.

"What's wrong?" his mother asked from where she sat in the living room, smoking _Pall Mall_ and watching an _I Love Lucy_ rerun.

"Why didn't you answer the phone?" he fired back, his fingers beginning to shake.

"I didn't know the number," she said flippantly. "Do you want some crazy murderer to know who we are?"

He shook his head angrily, noticing that his trembling had spread to his arms and legs now. He stood, trying to get a hold of himself. "I was expecting a call, Mom," he gritted out, dropping the phone back on the table.

His mother's eyes narrowed though they were still focused on the TV. "Paul, I don't like that tone."

Paul merely shrugged, an annoyed twitch of the shoulders. She continued, "And you know I hate it when you slam things down like that- reminds me of your father."

Paul's shaking grew worse and he backed toward the front door. "Ma, I need to get out for a while," he said, his jaw clenching around his words.

"What are you talking about?" she asked him. "Do you even know what time..." She trailed off as she finally looked away from _Lucy_ to see him standing in the doorway, violently trembling.

"Oh," she said immediately. "Go and cool off if you need to."

Paul nodded gratefully, trying the close the door as softly as he could behind him. He hated the flash of fear that always lit up her face when she was reminded of what he was. It had been a while since Sam had come and told her everything, but still she was wary around him.

He swiftly found his way to the forest, but he managed to refrain from changing once he had breathed in enough cold air. He knew that if he went back now, he would only change when he saw his mother sitting there, smoking and watching TV, so he kept walking, letting his feet take him wherever they wanted.

His feet were quick, so it hadn't been very long before she surprised him. He stopped in his tracks when he sensed her, his head whipping around until he finally spotted her not far away.

She was trudging along the main road, her hands stuffed in her coat pockets to fight the cold. Her head was down, so she didn't see him until he was only a few meters away. He felt a familiar jolt in his stomach when her eyes suddenly darted up and found his, and he stopped for a second. She stopped too, standing still with her eyes wide, the wind tossing her hair all around. She looked like a deer who was trying to hide from the hunter, and he frowned a little before he slowly stepped forward and made his way to her.

* * *

><p>Delilah unfroze and took the last few steps between them, until they stood only a couple feet from each other. She felt the strangest impulse to spring forward and hug him, but she ignored it, shifting her weight to her left foot.<p>

"Paul?" she questioned, her brow furrowed. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same question," he commented, his hand reaching up to run through his hair. "It's late out- won't the Cullens be worried?"

Delilah shifted her weight from her right foot to her left, biting her lip. How could she tell him without sounding horrible? "I just… needed some time alone. What happened today with that newborn- I know they were worried, but it's all been a little too much."

Paul nodded solemnly, his eyes soft. "I know how you feel. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Delilah reassured him, her mouth pulling up into a half smile. "How is Jacob doing? Carlisle's been at the reservation for a long time."

"Last I heard, he was doing pretty well, considering. Carlisle gave him some morphine."

"I hope he heals soon," Delilah said. "I don't know him well, but he seems like a good person."

"Do you want to see him?" Paul asked suddenly, trying to make her stay with him longer. "It's not far to your house- we could get a car and drive down."

Delilah bit her lip for a moment, deliberating. She wasn't sure if the Cullens would be alright with that, but she really didn't want to be away from Paul. Finally she nodded. "That sounds like a good idea."

Since she didn't have a working cell phone, Delilah couldn't call ahead to warn the Cullens that Paul was coming with her. When they reached the house, Rosalie was waiting in the doorway, the look on her face so cold that Delilah wanted to cry again. Paul stayed on the porch when she went inside to talk to Esme, and she felt horrible that no one objected. The only people in sight were Rosalie, Jasper and Esme.

"Why is Paul Lahote with you?" Jasper asked when the door had been closed. Delilah had no doubt that Paul could hear every word they were saying, and that they knew he could.

"I met him on the main road," she explained, nervously playing with her coat. Jasper sensed her discomfort, and his face softened the smallest bit. She gave him a slight smile before she approached Esme, who was leaning against the kitchen counter. Out of all of them, the sweet mannered woman would be the most likely to agree to the plan.

"Esme," she implored. "Is it alright if I borrow a car? I want to drive down to the reservation to see how Jacob's doing." At Esme's gently doubtful look, she added. "And I kind of need Carlisle to check out a bruise on my back. I fell pretty hard on it at Basil's house."

"Are you alright, dear?" Esme questioned, her forehead creasing with worry as she held out a hand to Delilah.

Delilah grasped the woman's cold hand for a moment and nodded quickly, feeling guilty for making her worry. "I just need to see Carlisle."

Although she looked reluctant, Esme gave in, and Delilah grabbed the keys to the sleek sportscar that Esme barely used. She avoided Rose's eyes and managed to get out onto the porch without any further questioning. Paul was still waiting there, and his eyes seemed to search hers as her face grew weary, but he knew better than to ask her about anything until they were in the car, on the way to Billy Black's house.

* * *

><p>There was silence in the car for a minute, then Paul blew a huge breath of air out of his mouth. "So," he started, turning his face so that he could see her fully. "Is it always that... tense?"<p>

Delilah snuck a peak at him from the corner of her eye, her grip tightening on the wheel. "It didn't used to be... a lot's changed over the past few months. With all the scares recently, I think they feel a little more protective than usual."

Paul's hands shook as he looked away from her pained face to the wintry forest out the window. How could he tell her that the tension in her family was because of him? How could he move forward at all? He had imprinted on a girl that lived with seven vampires, each one of them bent on keeping them apart for her safety, which was what he _lived_ for. But how could he protect her and not be near her? He couldn't help but feel like the universe was working against him.

The two of them fell silent, and the trip to Billy's house was peaceful. However, when Delilah pulled into the driveway, her heartbeat spiked at the pain they could hear in Jacob's screams even from outside the house.

They exchanged a solemn look before getting out of the car, and Paul walked into the house without knocking, Delilah following as closely to Paul as she could.

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><p><strong>AN: So I know this chapter's not really up to par, but oh well! :P Review if you want to! :D <strong>


	25. Peace

Delilah's face flushed slightly at the language Jacob was using as she and Paul slipped into the room. Billy Black nodded a greeting to them both, his face pinched, and Carlisle glanced back at them for a moment before he turned back to his patient. Sam Uley stood against the opposite wall, his dark eyes carefully assessing the scene.

Delilah stayed back as Carlisle went back and forth, pressing herself against the wall so that she wouldn't be in his way. Paul remained at her side, though his expression was solemn as he watched Carlisle work. They hadn't been there long before Carlisle came upon a problem.

"His bones are healing the wrong way," she heard her father murmur regretfully to Billy. "I need to rebreak the fractures." He glanced back at Paul, and Delilah knew he was telling him to leave with her, because Paul grabbed her hand and quickly led her outside.

Jacob's screams spiked in volume and depth before they were even in the car, and Delilah froze, unable to unlock the car as her shaky fingers fumbled with the key. Paul gently took the keys from her and unlocked the car, and she got into the driver's seat, but he shook his head, indicating the passenger seat. "Scoot over."

Delilah was too tired to argue, climbing into the other seat wearily. Paul got in and started the car, pulling out of the driveway and onto the road, heading out of the reservation. Delilah leaned her head against the window, closing her eyes and hoping that Paul wouldn't say anything to her. He seemed to know what she was thinking, because the car was silent until they pulled onto the road that would eventually lead them to the Cullens' house.

Delilah straightened up with a frown on her face. "I don't want to go home yet. Let's go somewhere else."

She belatedly realized how bossy that sounded, and tentatively glanced over at Paul, but his face showed nothing but understanding as he turned around in a parking lot and headed further into town.

They just drove around town for a few minutes, until Delilah spotted a small, old church nestled in between a convenience store and a row of small houses. It had been there ever since her family had moved to Forks, but Delilah had never been there, for obvious reasons. Every now and then she had been invited by Basil on Easter day or Christmas Eve, but she had always declined- it just didn't feel right. Tonight, though, she felt like she could go without feeling guilty.

She touched Paul's arm lightly, pointing to the church, and he pulled into the small parking lot without question. Once her feet were on the ground, however, she felt nervous about going into the church, even while there was no service. But having Paul's reassuring presence by her side made her feel braver, and she was able to pull open the door and walk inside.

She was beyond relieved that there was no preacher in sight, that there was no one at all in sight. The empty feel of the sanctuary was pleasant in a comforting way as she wandered down the aisle, her eyes glued to the stained glass windows whose bright colors depicted biblical stories. She recognized Noah's Ark by the huge boat and the many different animals lined up two by two. She remembered having a book when she was younger that had Noah's Ark in it.

She averted her eyes from the windows when she spotted a picture of who she assumed was God, and her gaze landed on an old piano in the corner, to the side of the pulpit. She could feel Paul's eyes on her as she approached it, and looked up at him with a sheepish expression.

"Edward taught me how to play when I was little," she admitted, sitting down on the piano bench and lightly running her fingers over the ivory keys. She looked back up at Paul to see him smiling at her, his arm resting on the piano as he leaned over to see her better.

"Play me a song?" he requested, sitting down beside her.

Delilah deliberated, looking down at the keys. "It's been a long time since I last played, but I guess I can try."

She hesitated for a moment, then placed her hands on the keys, a song instantly coming to mind. It was a beautiful song and relied mostly on high notes, so she wouldn't have to reach over in front of Paul too many times. She started out slowly, making certain she got every note right, that everything was in tune. Then as the song progressed, she began to trust herself more. She let her fingers guide her over the notes, playing the sweet tune without even thinking about it.

She still felt Paul's presence there beside her, felt the heat coming off of his body, but she couldn't bring herself to focus on anything but the song she was playing. He and everything else faded into background as she explored the innocent melody for the first time in years, reveling in the way the piano keys felt on her fingertips after so much time. Her conscious mind disappeared from reality, so completely lost in her song was she. She felt like she had just come home after several years away, and the keys were welcoming her like old friends- they had waited patiently for her return.

* * *

><p>Paul sat motionless on the piano bench beside his imprint, watching with complete awe as she played. She let herself go when she was playing; her posture relaxed, her beautiful porcelain face softened. There were no walls around her when she was playing, and he took delight in the picture it presented.<p>

He found himself wholly unable to tear his gaze away from her slight form sitting beside him, so close he could move his knee and touch hers if he wanted to. Her fine hair shone in the faint light of the lanterns that lined the walls, her ivory skin glowing softly. Her eyes were looking at the keys of the piano and not at him, but he didn't mind.

She was so focused on the song that she had temporarily lost all sense of reality, and he couldn't help but think that he had never seen anything more beautiful in all of his life. He felt a smile spread slowly across his face (and he probably looked like a big goof, sitting there grinning like a maniac, but he couldn't care less). And he realized in that moment that she didn't _just_ feel like his imprint anymore. He didn't just _need_ her anymore. She felt like his best friend, and his best ally, a person he could talk to without walls.

He loved her.

* * *

><p>When the song was finished, the last sweet note ended, Delilah turned to look at Paul for his reaction. She was smiling unsurely, feeling a little embarrassed that she had completely ignored him for almost five minutes while she had become reacquainted with the piece.<p>

The look on his face floored her.

He was smiling down at her with such a tender expression, his eyes filled with such a sweet emotion that it took her breath away, and she found herself unable to say anything. She became still, sitting there and looking into his brown eyes, frozen.

Finally, she managed to get a hold of herself. "That's one of my favorites," she said quietly, suddenly feeling very shy.

"It was beautiful," he said, grinning widely at her. Then a curious look swept across his face. "You said you hadn't played in a while- why? You're amazing."

Delilah smiled at his praise, then bit her lip nervously. "I guess it's because I had no one to play for. Edward's never really been a very attentive person toward me, and he and Bella have been spending a lot of time together lately."

"What about the rest of your family?" Paul asked.

"Well, I guess they've all become pretty busy, and I'm not sure I want to bother them," Delilah admitted reluctantly.

"What do you mean, 'bother them'?"

"They've all been so good to me, for as long as I can remember. Their main priority has always been my health and happiness, and I feel like I've been given a better life by them than most people will ever have. The _least_ I can do is be a little more independent."

Paul's brow furrowed. He couldn't believe that she actually thought that about herself. "You should never think that you're a bother to anyone. The Cullens adore you, Delilah. Everyone does." _Including me_.

Delilah looked down at her hands shyly. "I don't think _everyone_ does."

He wished that he could take her small, porcelain hands in his. He wanted nothing more than to reassure her that he was sure anyone who had ever made an attempt to know her had come to love her, even if she didn't think so. But he couldn't- that would scare her away from him, and if she pushed him away now, that would be the end of it. He would have to leave her alone- the leeches would make sure of that.

Instead he asked, "Why can't you just play for yourself?"

Delilah shrugged. "I don't know. I like to have someone sitting beside me. I just need someone to be there with me. You're really the only person I feel like I can play for now," she admitted hesitantly, looking up at him through her eyelashes. He felt his heart melt as he spotted the unsure glint in her blue eyes.

"Well you can play for me anytime you want," he said warmly, grinning down at her. "I'll always listen."

She smiled back at him for a moment, but in the next second jumped at the sudden sound of a door banging open.

"Who's there?" a voice called out, and a moment later, an old woman came down the spiral staircase to the right of the pulpit, just feet away from where they sat at the piano.

Her glare lingered on Paul, who had stood and was growling deep in his throat, but her eyes softened when she saw Delilah behind him, eyes wide and face pale.

"I-I'm sorry," Delilah stammered. "I didn't know that it wasn't… open."

The woman's weathered features grew apologetic. "The sanctuary is always open to those who need it," she said gently. "I'm sorry if I scared you. I heard the piano and thought there were troublemakers down here." She gave Paul a wary glance, and Delilah saw the muscles on his back stiffen a little. The old woman went on, "Can you blame a girl? Nowadays most people who come in here on a day we don't worship are holding a spray can in their hands."

Delilah stepped out from behind Paul a little, frowning. "That's horrible," she said sincerely, her eyes once again taking in the beautiful windows. "Do you work here?"

"I live here," the woman said proudly. "Turned the second floor into an apartment." She indicated the spiral staircase she'd descended before.

"That's allowed?" Delilah asked, then she realized what she'd said and felt herself blush at nosy she was.

But the woman didn't seem to matter; she smiled mischievously. "It is when you're the caretaker," she said, then she seemed to remember something. "Oh my, how could I be so rude? I'm Hazel Bettony, dear, but feel free to call me Hazel." She extended her hand to take Delilah's.

Delilah smiled a little. "I'm Delilah Cullen."

Hazel looked at Paul, expecting him to introduce himself.

"Paul," he grunted hesitantly. Delilah noticed that he didn't seem as tense as before.

"Was that you playing, dear?" Hazel asked her.

Delilah nodded, lowering her eyes in embarrassment.

Hazel clapped her hands together happily. "You were very good! I wish we had a piano player in the church who could play like that! Why, we wouldn't be opposed to having someone like _you_ play for us once in a while."

"Oh no, I couldn't," Delilah declined politely, frowning a little.

Hazel's smile fell a little, but her face brightened in the next moment. "Well that's perfectly alright, child. Just let me know if you change your mind. Samantha Crane plays now, but bless her heart, the girl can't play anything like what you just did."

Delilah's face flushed as she played with a button on her coat. "I will."

"Would you two like some tea? I have all kinds of the stuff stocked up in my kitchen."

Delilah glanced at Paul before she nodded, not wanting to be rude. They followed Hazel up the spiral stairs to her small apartment. Hazel pulled one of her long necklaces off when they reached the door, and Delilah realized that there was a key hanging from it.

At her curious look, Hazel cheerfully said, "I always lock my door when I leave the apartment. Paranoia gets worse as a girl ages, you see, and there's no better place to keep the key than right next to my heart." She unlocked the door and ushered them in. "Of course, normally I wouldn't invite anyone into my home, but you're trustworthy, aren't you? I've always had a sixth sense about these things. My daughter will tell you differently, but that's a story for another time!"

Delilah and Paul exchanged a look, and Delilah couldn't help her slight giggle at his incredulous expression. Luckily, Hazel had already disappeared into the kitchen and was starting the tea.

"Go on and make yourselves at home!" she called to them. She came back a moment later to discover them both still standing. "Well sit down, dears! I don't bite."

She laughed to herself, but Delilah felt a little of the blood leave her face at the expression; it reminded her of what had happened that afternoon. Paul's hand covertly found hers on the couch, and she instantly felt better. Hazel went on talking, but there was a mischievous gleam in her green eyes that said she had seen.

The next few minutes passed with Delilah and Hazel making small talk. Paul said something every now and then but otherwise remained silent by her side.

The tea pot whistled, and Hazel poured them each a cup of tea, opting to drink water herself. "I never did like the stuff," she confessed, "but the pastor thinks I adore it and gives me a new kind every Christmas, and I just don't have the heart to tell him I can't stand it."

"How long have you lived here?" Delilah asked her curiously.

The woman stopped for a moment to think, looking up at the ceiling thoughtfully. "Well, I moved to Forks in.. hmmm.. It slips my mind. I do remember that I moved into the church not long after my youngest daughter left for college. They all went to top schools, my girls did," she said proudly. "Anyway, I think that was about ten or eleven years ago. Of course, a girl's memory fades with time."

"So you've lived here ever since?" Delilah asked.

"Oh yes, and it's a very nice place to live, indeed."

"Do your daughters ever visit you?" Delilah felt like she was overstepping the boundary with that question, but Hazel answered her cheerfully.

"Oh no, not often. But they are so very busy, you see. Vivienne is working as a model. I could have told her she was going to- she was always exceptionally pretty. Belinda is a fine business woman, always earning lots of money, that one. And little Marie, bless her soul, is married with two little boys."

Hazel went on for a while about her girls and her grandchildren, and Delilah smiled supportively the whole time, nodding every now and then to show that she was listening. Her heart hurt for the woman, who had never met her grandchildren but had seen pictures and was convinced that they were perfect little angels with their mother's sweet temperance.

She squeezed Paul's hand tighter, hoping that if she ever had children, they wouldn't forget her like Hazel's children had forgotten her. She never wanted to be that lonely.

* * *

><p>It was almost eleven o'clock when Delilah finally looked at the old, antique grandfather clock that stood in the corner of Hazel's living room.<p>

"Oh," she said anxiously. "We should go- the Cullens will be worried if I'm not home soon."

Paul nodded, standing with her. He didn't let go of her hand, and she made no attempt to free it. Hazel stood too, smiling and walking them to the door.

"It was nice meeting you, Hazel," Delilah said sincerely, turning back in the doorway.

"Likewise, dear. And please do come back to visit me- a girl gets so lonely here without anyone to talk to."

Delilah smiled. "Of course."

She and Paul made their way down the staircase, and back through the sanctuary. The silence was comforting, and Delilah had time to study Paul as he led the way outside. He had been fairly quiet the whole time they'd been in the company of Hazel, and she wondered if he had felt uncomfortable.

By the time they'd gotten into the car, however, she'd realized just how tired she was, and she couldn't keep herself from drifting off against the seat in the warm car.

The next thing she knew, someone was touching her face softly. She wondered sleepily at how warm their skin was, and opened her eyes to find Paul's gentle eyes. He smiled when she looked at him, removing his hand from her cheek. "You're home."

Too tired to question why he hadn't just shook her shoulder to wake her up, Delilah turned to look out the window and saw that they were parked out in front of the Cullen house. She unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the door, forcing herself out of the warm car and into the cold air. Paul cut the engine and got out too, handing her the keys and saying goodbye.

Delilah was barely able to walk up the stairs because of how exhausted she was, but there was a deep peace in her heart that she hadn't felt since they'd first moved to Forks. She knew that for once, she was going to get a good night's sleep.

* * *

><p>Paul waited until Delilah was inside the house before he turned away, making his way back to his house. It would be a long walk as a human, especially after all the walking he'd done today, but he felt like he could walk forever and not be tired. He had never been able to spend as much time with Delilah as he had that day, and it gave him hope that he would be able to win her over after all, whether the Cullens wanted them together or not.<p>

He frowned a little at that thought. The Cullens were probably mad at Delilah for staying out so late. He pictured the blonde one's cold face and felt a growl building deep in his chest, but forced himself not to turn around. He couldn't defend her like that, not yet.

But sooner or later, he promised himself, he would have that right.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So I'd like to know what you guys think of Hazel; she might make an appearance in later chapters, so I wanna make sure she's realistic enough! In that reguard, reviews would definitely be helpful! :) <strong>

**Oh, and if anyone's wondering what the song Delilah played sounds like, I imagined it sounding like Yiruma's _Kiss the Rain_! If you've never heard that song before, you definitely should go and listen to it! :D**


	26. A Surprise

The first thing that Delilah did the next morning was call Basil's mother.

Carlisle let her use his phone, since hers was smashed. "We'll have to get you a new one," he murmured to himself, searching through his desk for a file he had misplaced.

Delilah smiled in gratitude before leaving the room. She knew that everyone would still be able to hear her, no matter what room she was in, but she felt better standing out in the hall by herself. She scrolled through Carlisle's contacts list, quickly finding Ms. Davis' number.

She answered on the second ring. "Hello?"

"Ms. Davis? It's Delilah. Is Basil doing okay?"

There was sizzling on the other end, and Jay's voice in the background. "Mom, can you make bacon biscuit sandwiches like the other day?"

Ms. Davis ignored him as she answered Delilah. "She's doing just fine- April told me she'll be ready for release in a few days. Only, Lord knows how she's going to lug that cast around without falling down the stairs and putting herself back in the hospital."

"I guess it's a good thing school's out. She would hate having to walk around school like that," Delilah commented, listening as Jay's request became louder and louder.

"Mom, bacon biscuits? Can you? Mom! Mom mom mom mom mom-"

"Jay! If you put your bowl on the table instead of the floor, maybe I'll consider it." She directed her attention back to the phone. "Delilah, I'm gonna have to let you go."

Delilah nodded, then realized Ms. Davis couldn't see her. "Okay, I'll come by the hospital later and see her, if that's okay."

"Alright, that's fine. Buh-bye."

"Bye."

Ms. Davis hung up after something crashed in the background and Jay was heard whining again. Delilah ended the call, opening the door to Carlisle's office to give his phone back to him.

"I'm glad Basil's doing better," Carlisle said sincerely, sticking his phone in his pocket. "But you should eat some breakfast before you go."

He held the door open for her and they made their way to the kitchen. Esme came in from the family room, smiling at Delilah.

"Would you like me to make you some soup, Darling?"

Delilah nodded reluctantly, knowing that they would be worried about her if she didn't eat. Things had already been tense in the house, with all that had happened yesterday with Paul.

Rosalie and Emmett had gone hunting during the night and weren't back yet. Delilah had felt hurt when she found out because neither of them had even said goodbye. That was how she knew that Rose was still angry at her.

Edward was at Bella's house- he at least had called to make sure she and Basil were okay, having heard about the incident at Basil's house from Carlisle that night. Alice and Jasper were the only ones besides Esme and Carlisle that were home- though they had stayed in their room for the most part.

She went to plop down in one of the chairs by the counter, forgetting about her back, and gasped as it made contact with the hard back of the chair. Immediately, Carlisle's worried gaze was on her.

"Are you hurt?" he asked her, coming around the counter to stand next to her.

"Well, I did bruise my back yesterday."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Carlisle questioned, gesturing for her the pull the back of her shirt up a little.

"I meant to, but you were really busy with Jacob, and it's just a bruise..."

She jumped as Carlisle's icy fingers gently probed the sore spot on her lower back. "Not necessarily- you could have a very minor back injury. I don't feel anything out of place, but you should have an x-ray done to be sure."

"Oh, please don't make me, Carlisle. I wanted to go to the hospital to see Basil, not get an x-ray. It just feels like a bruise to me."

Carlisle shared a dubious look with Esme, who was standing at the stove pouring a can of soup into a stainless steel pot. "Alright, if you say so. But if it hurts you for longer than a week, make sure you tell me, alright?"

Delilah nodded. "Of course."

* * *

><p>"Lilah!" Basil exclaimed, sitting up in her hospital bed. "Oh my gosh, I was so worried! Mom told me you were fine, but it just happened so quickly and I blacked out and just sorta left you in the conscious world by yourself-"<p>

"Basil, I'm fine," Delilah interrupted her, half-laughing. "I was more worried about you."

"Me? Ha! It would take a lot more than _bears_.. to keep me down for long!"

"That's true," Delilah said as normally as possible. Why say it like that? Did Basil know something about what had really gone on the day before? She wasn't left to ponder on it long, however, because the next moment, Basil was whining about the TV.

"I swear," she complained, picking up the remote and flipping through the channels. "They have _zip_ on here for good channels. I'm missing all my shows!"

Delilah spent the morning and a good portion of the afternoon at the hospital with Basil, but eventually she had to force herself to leave.

"No! You can't leave me here," the redhead begged her dramatically. "Aunt Lisa told Mom she and Uncle Patrick are coming later to visit with me! _Do you know what that means_?" At Delilah's blank look, she said, "That means that most likely Zach will be coming too! _Man_ I hate him!"

Delilah laughed, grabbing her bag from the stiff couch by the window. "Don't worry, I'll be back tomorrow, and you can complain as much as you like."

* * *

><p>When Delilah pulled into the driveway at the Cullen house, she was somewhat pleased to find Bella's antique, barely functioning truck parked there. She hadn't talked to her brother's girlfriend since the day before, and she wanted to know how the fight had gone. Since none of the Cullens would tell her everything that had happened, she thought maybe Bella would be willing to talk about it.<p>

Her train of thought, however, was interrupted when she walked into the family room to see Alice holding up a wedding dress, looking exited. Bella's flushed cheeks indicated her embarrassment at Alice's enthusiasm as she practically hid behind Edward.

Alice turned to Delilah as soon as she walked in, having taken in the surprised look on her face. "That's right! You haven't heard, have you, Delilah?"

"You're getting married?" She asked Edward and Bella.

"We got engaged the other night," Bella said shyly, though her happiness was evident in her shining eyes. Edward put an arm around her proudly, grinning at Delilah- it might have possibly been the happiest she had ever seen him.

"Wow," Delilah said, a smile pulling at her own lips- they both just looked so _happy_. "Where will the ceremony be?"

"Well _here_ of course," Alice said, acting insulted. "Not to brag, but I am _more_ than capable of directing a wedding. I already found her the perfect dress!" She held said dress up so that Delilah could see. "Granted, the groom isn't supposed to see it before _the day_, but some grooms are just plain nosy enough to possess the power to read minds. Isn't it lovely though?"

Delilah touched the silky fabric, inspecting the lace on the arms. "It's beautiful," she said, glancing up at Bella. "It's perfect for you."

"There was something else," the brown-eyed girl said nervously. "I've already asked Alice to be the Maid of Honor, but I'd like you to be a bridesmaid too, if that's okay."

Delilah paused for a moment, genuinely surprised. "Really?"

Bella nodded, waiting for her answer. Delilah managed to stammer out a _yes_ before Alice whisked Bella off to talk about wedding details. Edward went to follow, but turned back to her.

"She _does_ like you, you know. You shouldn't be surprised."

Delilah smiled at him. "Thanks." _And congratulations, you two are perfect together._

Edward smiled at her in return before leaving to catch up with Alice and his fiancee.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So as you can probably tell by now, this chapter was mainly a filler, but I'd still love to read any reviews you send my way (I always love knowing your opinion, you guys!) ^-^<strong>


	27. Wedding Drama

**AN: I made this chapter really long for you guys, so I hope you enjoy it! Just so nobody's confused in the beginning, this is officially the start of _Breaking Dawn_.**

* * *

><p>"Yes!" Basil exclaimed, hanging up her cell phone and tossing it on Delilah's bed.<p>

Delilah raised her eyebrows curiously as her best friend did a little dance- well, as much as her cast would allow her to. "Who was that?"

"That was my mom. She said that the hospital called to schedule a date when I can get my cast off!"

"That's great!" Delilah said laughingly, watching Basil try to jump around in excitement.

"You're telling me! I'm _so_ tired of this thing!"

"I would be too," Delilah admitted as the bulky thing knocked over a pile of books she had next to her bed.

"Ugh!" Basil groaned, trying to pick the books up. "Let's just go downstairs before I wreck your room more than I already have."

Delilah didn't think that letting Basil destroy the beautiful wedding decorations downstairs would be any better than letting her destroy her room, but she nodded anyway and followed her best friend as they slowly made their way downstairs.

The scent of orange blossoms, lilac, and a couple other sweet smelling things hit them halfway down, and Basil inhaled deeply. "Wow, it smells really good in here."

"Alice spent all night decorating for Edward and Bella's wedding," Delilah told her.

"She must have been really quiet about it," Basil said in wonder as she descended the final stair and saw all the extravagant features Alice had decorated with. "I didn't hear anything last night!"

"She's pretty good at not waking anybody up." Delilah didn't mention that the only people who had slept the night before had been her and Basil.

"Man," Basil breathed, trailing her hand along one of the white gossamer ribbons that adorned the wall. "I wish I woke up to stuff like this every time I spent the night here. The wedding is gonna be incredible- you have to take lots of pictures for me!"

Delilah laughed. "I'll try, but somehow I think I'll be a little more preoccupied."

"Oh yeah, I forgot you were a bridesmaid," Basil said thoughtfully. "I guess you'll be a little busy then, won't you?"

"Don't worry, I'll find someone to take pictures," Delilah reassured her.

"Hey, speaking of pictures," Basil said seriously, "have you seen the Missing posters?"

"The ones of Jacob Black?"

"Yeah. I hope somebody recognizes him soon. Wonder where he is now?"

"I don't know," Delilah told her. She wanted to tell Basil the truth, that the pack suspected he was somewhere in Canada, that no one was going to recognize the boy in the posters because he had stayed in wolf form.

It had only been a week since Jacob had gotten the invitation to Bella's wedding and run off, and her family members had been trying extra hard to convince Bella that it wasn't her fault. Delilah had kept her distance, not knowing what to say. It wasn't Bella's fault, but she was sure the girl had heard that enough times already. Besides, she felt like she wasn't involved enough in their problems to have the right to say anything.

As if on cue, Alice and Bella walked through the front door at that moment.

"Delilah," Alice moaned instantly, giving her an exasperated look. "_Why_ aren't you dressed yet?"

Bella, whose eyes were covered with a blindfold, moved her head around, trying to locate them by sound. "Delilah?"

"And Basil," Basil added cheerfully.

"Alice," Delilah said, mimicking her sister's voice. "_Why_ does Bella look less like a bride and more like a hostage?"

"Because it would totally ruin the surprise if she saw all these decorations before it was time! Why are you being so sassy today?" Alice took her hands away from Bella to put them on her hips, and Delilah smiled as her brother's fiancée flailed her arms around, nervously searching for Alice.

"I think I've finally rubbed off on her," Basil noted with satisfaction, accidentally knocking over a pot of white roses as she moved to sit down on the sofa.

Alice put her hands back on Bella's shoulders, leading her toward the staircase. She threw a stern look back at Basil, who shrugged her shoulders innocently.

"The cast is coming off soon, if that makes you feel better," she said. "I should probably get my stuff together though, Lilah. Mom said she would be by in about fifteen minutes to get me."

"Alright," Delilah said, ascending the stairs. "I'll get your bag. Just try not to destroy anything else while I'm gone."

"No promises."

* * *

><p>After Basil was gone, Delilah had no choice but to get into the bridesmaid dress that Alice had given her the night before. Still, she spent as long as she could procrastinating.<p>

It wasn't that she didn't want to dress up for Bella's wedding. She just wasn't sure how the dress would look. It was the first time she had been self conscious since she had gone to the bonfire that Paul had invited her to.

Her mind went back to the story that Billy Black had told, to Taha Aki and his true spirit wife. She remembered how fascinated she had been by the idea that their love had been so powerful that Taha Aki would give up eternity for her. There had been another story told that night, but Delilah couldn't remember what it had been about. She wished she hadn't fallen asleep during it.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Rosalie walked through her doorway without knocking. Delilah jumped, almost dropping the dress she was holding.

"Rose!" she exclaimed, clutching the material to her in surprise.

"Good, you're not dressed yet," Rose said, eyeing Delilah's sweatpants and tee shirt. "I have to do your makeup."

She gestured for Delilah to follow her. "I have everything in my bathroom."

Delilah trailed behind her hesitantly, still holding the dress. Did that mean that Rose wasn't mad at her? Then again, holding grudges was Rose's specialty.

Rosalie had Delilah sit on a stool she had set up in her bathroom and started unzipping different makeup cases, looking for the right one. "Alice has Bella in her bathroom, so I figured I would do your makeup while she's busy."

Once she found the right foundation for Delilah's fair skin tone, she leaned down a little and began applying it with a brush. She seemed to be concentrating hard, so Delilah had the chance to try and figure out what kind of mood she was in.

Over the past few weeks, ever since she and Paul and gone off and spent the evening together, Rose's attitude toward her had been frosty, to say the least. Delilah had tried to act like she didn't notice, because she didn't believe she should apologize for something so trivial, but in spite of her pride, it really did bother her that her sister was mad at her. They had always been so close- Rose had practically been her second mother when she'd been younger. She wished they could go back to that. Unfortunately, she doubted that their prides would let them.

Rosalie caught her eyes as she was getting out an eye shadow brush and a makeup palette. "I know you don't like having stuff on your eyes, but I won't put on much."

Delilah nodded reluctantly, giving her a tentative smile. That had always been Rosalie's way- she never apologized directly. She tended to make amends through her actions more than through her words.

Her sister's touch was like feathers on Delilah's eyelids, and she was grateful. She had always hated it when things irritated her eyes- especially makeup. Rosalie didn't bother with eyeliner, instead carefully applying a little mascara to Delilah's lashes. After that she added a small amount of pink blush to Delilah's cheekbones to make her face look brighter, and Delilah was happy with the end result when she looked in the mirror.

"It looks good, Rose," she said somewhat shyly.

Rose smiled at her for the first time in the last few weeks. "I thought you might like something simple. Now, let's get your hair curled."

Curling Delilah's hair didn't take very long, since it was thin and already had a little curl to it. Soon, it was done, and Rosalie helped her slip into her dress.

"He's home," she said flippantly, and Delilah realized she was talking about Edward. "Alice will have a conniption."

She finished adjusting Delilah's dress and checked her own silver gown in the mirror briefly before they made their way to Alice and Jasper's bathroom, where Alice had set out what looked like all of the makeup she owned. Bella's eyes widened when she saw the two of them in their dresses, and Delilah blushed. Rose offered to do Bella's hair, and Delilah busied herself by organizing the makeup that was spread out on the counter. She soon found that she was doing more harm than good, however, as Alice was very picky about her makeup placement. She wished Bella good luck and headed downstairs to see if any of the guests had appeared.

A few vampires had shown up, and she assumed they were friends of the Cullens. She avoided talking directly to them; though their eyes were golden, she had to admit that she was afraid of them. Well, afraid of what they would think of her, anyway. She had never met them before that she could remember, and she was worried that they would think it was wrong for her to live with the Cullens when she was so obviously not one of them.

She noticed that some of Bella's and Edward's friends had arrived, and she entertained them for a few minutes. As Jessica was telling her about past memories she shared with Bella, Delilah spotted the tanned skin of a Quileute in her peripheral vision. She politely excused herself, leaving the small group to converse among themselves as she made her way to the door, where Seth Clearwater and an older woman had just entered.

"Hi, Delilah," Seth exclaimed, looking glad to see someone he knew. "You look great!"

"Thanks," Delilah greeted him, smiling.

The woman standing beside him looked at him, and he introduced them. "Delilah, this is my mom, Sue Clearwater. Mom, this is Delilah Cullen."

"It's nice to meet you," Delilah said shyly.

Sue's grip was gentle like her smile as she shook Delilah's hand. "Likewise."

Delilah didn't miss the inquiring look the woman gave Seth, or the nearly imperceptible nod Seth gave her in return. Before she could comment on it, however, more people began flooding through the doors. Delilah greeted them all shyly, her throat constricting more and more with each "hello."

She sighed in relief when she felt a calm wash over her, and looked back to see Jasper smile at her reassuringly through one of the floor-to-ceiling windows. Esme was having him, Edward, and Emmett put together a few last details outside before everyone could take their seats.

"Feeling nervous?"

She turned, having not realized that Seth was still standing there next to her. Sue had made her way across the room to talk to Charlie.

Delilah nodded, smiling reluctantly. "I guess I'm just not used to having this many people in the house without Basil here." As soon as she said it, she realized it was true. She wished Basil was there to be social for her.

"To tell you the truth, I'm a little nervous without the rest of the pack here," Seth admitted, giving her a goofy smile and rubbing the back of his head.

Before Delilah could say anything else, Alice's voice floated down the staircase. "Delilah, it's almost time!"

Delilah vaguely noticed that Esme and Carlisle were politely herding people outside to their seats. She said goodbye to Seth and made her way upstairs where Bella and Alice were. Rosalie passed her on the way down, giving her a reassuring smile. A moment later, piano music tinkled up the stairs after Delilah. She smiled; Rosalie was the best piano player in the house, besides Edward.

Charlie had also made his way up, and stood next to Bella supportively as his daughter tottered in her high heels.

"Okay," Alice said, smoothing Bella's dress. "I'll go first. Delilah, you'll come after me. Bella, wait five seconds and then follow."

They all nodded, and when the traditional wedding march began to play, Alice gracefully descended the stairs.

Delilah turned and gave Bella one last smile. "You're beautiful. It'll be fine."

She began her descent, praying that she wouldn't trip over her own dress and ruin Bella and Edward's wedding. But Seth was seated near the back, and he was one of the first people she saw. His tan skin and brown eyes reassured her. It wasn't until she was standing beside Alice to the side of the pulpit that she realized why.

Seth reminded her of Paul.

She felt herself blush heavily, and was grateful that everyone's eyes were on the bride.

* * *

><p>The reception was almost as beautiful as the ceremony, and Delilah spent a lot of time just admiring the decorations. But it wasn't long before her speculative silence was interrupted by a beautiful, lilting voice.<p>

"Delilah, I assume?"

The group of vampires she had seen earlier stood before her. The one who had spoken, a woman with curly hair that was almost the same shade as Delilah's, held out her hand. Delilah overcame her short moment of surprise long enough to shake the woman's hand, but her anxiety about meeting them all only increased tenfold when she saw them up close. The woman shaking her hand seemed to be sizing her up, and Delilah was glad when a slightly younger looking woman with straight blonde hair spoke up.

"Now Tanya, you're going to frighten her." She reached out and patted Delilah's hand. "My name is Kate. You look so pretty tonight, dear."

"Oh, so do you," Delilah said shyly, scuffing her shoe on the ground.

The last two vampires, a couple with dark hair and olive toned skin, greeted her next. "I'm Carmen, and this is Eleazer." The man named Eleazer nodded at her in greeting.

"Nice to meet you," Delilah said quietly, giving her a small smile.

"You know, I still remember when the Cullens first found you," Tanya said suddenly, her golden eyes narrowing slightly in thought.

"Really?" Delilah asked, her brows lifting the smallest bit. She didn't remember much about coming to the Cullens, and it wasn't really a subject that they had ever discussed with her.

"Oh, of course," Tanya said. "Almost everyone came to visit just to get away from the temptation- Alice and Jasper didn't leave for a few months."

"Delilah, I see you've met the Denali coven."

Delilah jumped as Jasper suddenly appeared by her side. She couldn't see his expression clearly, but whatever it was seemed to make Tanya stop for a moment.

Carmen addressed Jasper. "Oh yes, she really is a darling girl, Jasper."

Delilah blushed, looking down at her shoes.

"That she is," Jasper's southern accent came out a little in his polite response. "But if you'll excuse me, I'd like to dance with my sister." His grin was nothing short of respectful, but Delilah sensed that there was something else he was trying to convey, something in his golden eyes.

The Denalis let them go after Delilah said goodbye to them. Jasper led her out onto the dance floor, and Delilah nervously took his hand. She knew how to dance of course- the Cullens had made sure of that early on- but she wasn't fond of dancing in front of people she barely knew. Jasper sent her calming feelings, however, and soon she was laughing as he twirled her around gracefully like he'd done when she was little.

Still, when she caught sight of Bella and Edward greeting the Denalis on the edge of the dance floor, her mind went back to what Tanya had said. Delilah had wanted to ask her what she'd meant, but Jasper had interrupted. The blonde vampire must have noticed her sudden trepidation, because he stopped twirling her in favor of pulling her into a calmer dance so that they could talk to each other.

"Jasper," she began, playing with the ends of his long hair like she'd done as a child. "Tanya said that she remembered when you all adopted me."

Jasper's face hardened a little, but his response was light. "We all do. What about it?"

"I… don't remember how that happened," Delilah said slowly, trying to breach the subject gently.

"You want me to tell you," Jasper guessed, his face resigned.

"Yes," she said without hesitation.

"It's not really a subject for an occasion such as this," Jasper told her. "Today is about Edward and Bella. We can talk about it later, alright?"

The song ended then, and before he could say anything else, Delilah stepped away from him. "I'm going to go get a drink- it's a little hot with all these lights."

She knew he could feel how hurt she felt suddenly as she made her way to the refreshments table, but she didn't care. She understood that this was her brother and his wife's day, but now that she had been reminded that _strangers_ knew about her earliest days with the Cullens and she didn't, she couldn't help feeling angry.

She had expected Jasper to tell her immediately- they had always had some sort of bond, and he had never kept anything from her before. Why was this so different? She wanted to tell him how unfair it was, but she didn't want to embarrass herself by causing any trouble.

She sat in an abandoned chair for a while after that, steaming to herself. Well-placed annoyed glances kept her family away from her for the most part, though Esme did come over once under the pretense of getting something to drink, patting her hair with a mother's touch.

After a while of shooting less-than-impressed glances at any boy who tried to approach her, she was somewhat surprised to see Seth approaching her.

"You don't look like you're having much fun," he said, folding his lanky yet muscular body into the chair beside hers.

Delilah felt her face warming as she remembered why exactly Seth's presence made her feel so much better. "I don't mean to be like this on their wedding day, but something somebody said to me earlier made me angry."

"Feel like talking about it?"

"Not really," Delilah admitted quietly. As much as the younger boy reminded her of Paul, she wasn't about to share such personal information.

"Oh," Seth said awkwardly. There was a beat of silence between the two of them, before he straightened up suddenly. "Do you want to dance?"

Delilah raised her eyebrows, not quite sure what to say.

"Or if not, that's cool too. Just trying to lighten up the mood, you really don't have to.." Seth rambled anxiously.

"It's okay," Delilah said, standing up. "I want to."

The truth was that she really didn't want to dance in front of people again, especially without Jasper's graceful leading, but she didn't imagine that Seth had danced much that night, considering all the vampires in attendance.

To her surprise, Seth wasn't as bad a dancer as she had been expecting. It must have shown on her face, because he blushed.

"My mom used to dance with my sister and I all the time," he said brightly.

They hadn't been on the floor for more than a minute, however, before Seth tensed.

"Uh oh," he said, freezing in the middle of their dance.

Delilah stepped back, worried immediately. "What?"

"Jake," Seth said, hurriedly leaving the dance floor. Delilah followed him, and some distance away from the reception were Bella, Edward, and Jacob.

Jacob's hand was tight on Bella's arm, and he was shaking uncontrollably. Edward was growling nearly imperceptibly, trying to pry Jacob's fingers away from Bella without hurting her.

"Jake, bro, let go of her," Seth urged him, stepping closer. Delilah followed again, though she knew she shouldn't get involved.

There came a low snarl from the darkness of the forest, and she stopped in her tracks. Seth looked up, first into the forest and then back at her, and his face turned ashen, like he'd done something he shouldn't have. But the moment passed, and Jacob was once again everyone's main concern.

* * *

><p>Delilah waved goodbye to the bride and groom along with everyone else, but her heart wasn't in it.<p>

She wanted to know why Seth had looked so guilty earlier. Even if it had been Paul that had growled at the two of them, it wasn't like he had any claim over her, and who was to say that she couldn't dance with one of her friends anyway? Because really, Seth had been her friend, ever since he and Paul had destroyed the vampire that had tried to kill Basil. Anyone who saved her best friend's life more than deserved her friendship.

The whole thing was a little embarrassing, and if she was being honest, she was glad that everyone else had been too distracted by Jacob to pay them any attention. Almost immediately after thinking that, she felt a little guilty, because Bella hadn't looked nearly as happy after Jacob had angrily left than she had before he had shown up. But at least _she_ hadn't ruined their day- that had been _all_ Jacob.

As she made her way through the crowd of leaving guests, kicking off her shoes and picking them up to carry them, she had the nagging feeling in the back of her mind that there was something she had meant to ask someone.

She couldn't remember, but she wished she could; whatever it was felt really important.


	28. A Call

**AN: This is a short chapter, but I'm hoping you guys will like it anyway! :D**

* * *

><p>Despite her best efforts, Delilah couldn't stop thinking about Paul during the next few days. Several times a day she found herself pausing in whatever she was doing to wonder what he was doing. This worried the Cullens a little, especially Esme, who one day found her standing in front of the open refrigerator door one day, staring into it with glazed over eyes.<p>

"Honey?"

Delilah jumped and turned around, slamming the refrigerator door shut. "Esme!"

"Are you alright?" Esme asked her, eyebrows furrowing in concern.

"Oh… yes," Delilah said, leaning against the cold kitchen appliance and hoping it would make the warmth in her face disappear. "I was just.."

"Just what, darling?"

Delilah sighed, collapsing into a chair. "Promise you won't tell anyone else, Esme."

"Whatever it is, you can tell me."

Delilah sighed again, glancing around carefully. The others had gone out hunting and had been gone for an hour at least, but she was still paranoid. "And Esme, promise you won't make fun of me," she pleaded with the woman.

Esme's eyes became understanding. "I think I know what this is about," she said, sliding into the chair next to Delilah.

"Really?"

"Well, I knew you didn't have your head in the refrigerator for five minutes because you were hungry." Delilah nodded, staring at the countertop in front of her.

"Is it about Paul, honey?" Esme ventured, suppressing a smile when the girl's face turned red.

"…I can't stop thinking about him," Delilah blurted out. "I-I like him, but I'm not supposed to!"

"Who told you that you couldn't like him?" Esme questioned gently.

"Well, no one. But nobody in this family likes him and Rose and I just made up and I don't want to make her mad again, or anyone else."

"Oh, honey," Esme said remorsefully, taking Delilah's hand. "I'm sorry that we made you feel that way. You should be able to make your own choices."

"It just seems like everyone else is against it," Delilah murmured. "Maybe it's a sign that I shouldn't start anything between us."

"Do you honestly believe that? Darling, they're only trying to protect you; it's because they love you. They just have to realize that you need to do things on your own, have your own experiences, whether they're good or bad."

"So you think I should give it a try?" Delilah asked her, blue eyes trusting.

"If that's what you want," Esme said.

"Why aren't you mad at me, Esme?"

"Because I can see that he has the potential to make you happy," Esme said, squeezing her hand. "And I'm content with just knowing that."

Delilah felt sudden, inexplicable tears prick at her eyes. "Thank you, Esme," she said earnestly. The hug her mother gave her in return made all of her remaining worries slip away. Feeling confident, she broke away smiling.

"I think I'm going to go out for a while," she said, giving Esme one last quick hug and leaving the room. Her cheeks burned a little as Esme's soft laugh rang out behind her.

* * *

><p>Delilah nervously paced the sidewalk, her new cell phone clutched in her hands. She had walked into town in the hopes of meeting Paul in the middle; she didn't want him to come to the house and have the rest of her family show up, and she wasn't yet comfortable enough to walk right onto the reservation.<p>

With anticipation tying a knot in her stomach, she slowly dialed his number, holding her breath as it rang. It was picked up on the third ring.

"_Hello_?" a woman's voice rang out on the other side.

Delilah froze in embarrassment as she realized that she must have put the wrong number into her phone. "Oh, I'm sorry, I think I have the wrong num-" she began, but stopped in the middle of her sentence as another voice rang through the phone.

"_Ma, who is that_?"

"_Some girl, says she has the wrong number_-"

"_No she doesn't_," the second voice said quickly, and suddenly she was on the phone with the voice. "_Delilah_?"

"Paul?" she asked, blushing.

"_Yeah_," he answered, a grin in his voice. "_What's up_?"

"Um, I was wondering if we could meet up," Delilah said slowly, feeling her face heat up even more. "If you want."

"_Yeah, of course_," Paul said, and Delilah smiled at his eagerness. "_Where are you now_?"

"Oh, I'm on the edge of town, by the old library."

"_I'll pick you up_," he said immediately.

About ten minutes later, Paul was sitting across from her at a booth in a local diner. Though she wasn't hungry, she had ordered a plate of pancakes with a side of fruit. The waiter had given her a strange look when she'd asked for it because it was almost dinner time, but the boy hadn't said anything because Paul had been giving him a glare. Said werewolf had ordered three plates and was almost finished by the time Delilah had even made a dent in hers. She hardly noticed, though, because Paul had kept a steady conversation up the whole time.

First they had talked about things that connected them, like how Jacob had been doing, or where Edward and Bella had gone for their honeymoon, but soon they were talking about the strangest things. For instance, Paul noticed that she was doodling absentmindedly on her napkin. "Are you into art?"

Delilah smiled. "Ever since I was younger," she told him. "I really like drawing people lately."

"That's cool," Paul said, sounding sincere. "I'd like to see sometime."

"What about you?" Delilah asked, then clarified, "What do you like to do?"

Paul paused for a second, thinking. "I don't really have a lot of free time."

"I guess being part of the pack takes up more time than I thought," Delilah said.

"I used to like woodcarving," he admitted, laughing. "Stereotypical Indian behavior, huh?"

"Not that much," Delilah assured him. "Is it difficult?"

"Not really, once you get the hang of it," Paul told her. "My dad taught me how to do it when I was younger."

Delilah knew that Paul lived with only his mother, and she felt bad for him as he frowned a little when mentioning his father.

"What's your favorite color?" she asked him, changing the subject.

"Blue," Paul said immediately.

"Really?" Delilah questioned, surprised. That hadn't been the color she'd been expecting.

"What did you think it would be?" Paul asked her curiously.

"Well… I don't know," Delilah admitted, hoping she wasn't offending him. "Something a bit more… wolf-like?"

Paul laughed, his eyes mischievous. "Blue is a beautiful color," was all he said.

* * *

><p>During the next two weeks, Delilah and Paul met up several more times, and each time Delilah felt herself growing slowly closer to Paul. She didn't exactly know why she felt so close to him- they didn't exactly have much in common. She was a straight A student who loved reading and drawing. He was a boy whose responsibility to his pack made it impossible for him to focus on school or have many hobbies. She couldn't help feeling like she was pulling him away from that responsibility, that he had better things to do.<p>

The weird thing was, being around Paul made Delilah feel like her life had been rather empty before in comparison. Growing up, she had felt like there was something missing, though she never knew why or what that something was. Now she was beginning to realize what had been wrong. Living with the Cullens was a privilege, but there was just something about living with immortals that made life feel sort of meaningless. A few decades of doing nothing with your existence wasn't a big deal when you had all the time in the world, but for Delilah, time often seemed wasted. She had always had time on her hands and had never thought to do anything to make up for it.

But even though she felt guilty for distracting Paul from his pack duties, she couldn't bring herself to spend less time with him; when she was with him she felt like she finally was doing something worthwhile with her time, even if all they did was hang around in Forks and talk. Delilah even grew comfortable enough to meet up with him on the reservation, where they sometimes visited Emily at her and Sam's house. This was where she was when Carlisle called her cell phone two weeks into Edward and Bella's honeymoon.

"Hey, Carlisle," Delilah said, smiling at Seth and Jared as they fought over Emily's last chocolate chip cookie.

"_Delilah_," Carlisle said, a note of concern in his voice. "_I think it's time for you to come home_."

Delilah frowned, throwing a confused look over her shoulder at Paul, who had stopped eating and was watching her. "What's wrong?"

There was a long pause on Carlisle's end, before: "_Something happened_."

"What do you mean?" Delilah questioned.

"_Just come home_," Carlisle said. "_Esme wants you here for now_."

"Okay," Delilah said, wondering what had happened. "I can leave right now."

"_Thank you_."

Delilah ended the call, and her brows furrowed as she turned around and looked at Paul. She knew he and the others had heard their conversation, but she wasn't worried much about privacy. "I'll call you later," she said.

"Do you want me to drive you home?" Even though Delilah always drove one of the Cullens' cars to the reservation, Paul, knowing how much she hated driving, had taken to driving her back to her house and walking back to the reservation.

"I'll be fine," Delilah told him. She went over to him and had almost kissed his cheek before she realized what she was doing. She awkwardly gave him a one-armed hug instead, her face feeling hot as he grinned at her. Then she left quickly, her mind going over her and Carlisle's conversation and how concerned he had sounded.

Delilah's stomach felt incredibly uneasy on the way back to the Cullens' house, and as she nervously clutched the steering wheel she wished she had accepted Paul's offer. Something was definitely wrong.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So now that Paul and Delilah have (<em>finally<em>) cracked the ice, they should be getting a lot closer in chapters to come! Reviews are always appreciated!**


	29. Imprint

Delilah felt so sick to her stomach she thought she might have to use Bella's puke bucket.

She sat folded up in the armchair of the family room, shivering slightly as Jacob walked stiffly into the room. Carlisle had tried to stop him from coming in, but Bella insisted on seeing him. Delilah cringed, not for the first time since Bella and Edward had gotten home, at the girl's appearance. She was curled up in the corner of the sofa, trying to be cheerful, but her body looked like a corpse's. She had lost so much weight already that her bones jutted out, stretching her pale, grayish skin. Her wrists were so thin it looked like even Delilah could snap them if she wasn't careful, and though it was currently hidden from view by her blanket, Bella's stomach was the worst thing of all. Delilah had seen it earlier when she and Rosalie had been helping Bella into a new shirt after a particularly messy vomiting session. She had tried to contain her gasp, but she didn't think Bella blamed her for being scared, because it was truly terrifying.

It was huge, that she already knew, but what she had been shocked to see were the blackish bruises covering it; this was not what her idea of a pregnant woman's body looked like. Instead of making her glow, the baby was taking her life force completely. If there was a moment when Delilah realized that something was terribly, dreadfully wrong about the pregnancy, that was it. But it was obvious that Bella cared very much for the baby inside her, even if Edward wanted it killed.

Delilah's phone rang in her pocket, and she left the room swiftly, not wanting to attract a lot of attention.

"Hello?" she answered once she was in her room.

"_Finally! I've called you, like, five thousand times and you haven't answered! What's up with you_?" Basil's voice filtered through the phone.

Delilah frowned. The reason she hadn't been answering the phone was because Bella's pregnancy had to be kept secret, which meant that as much as Delilah wished her friend was there with her, Basil could not come over for a long time. They still saw each other at school everyday, but it wasn't the same. "Things have just been really busy," she said lamely.

Basil scoffed. "_Okay, I know there's something you're not telling me, but I'm going to be a good friend and not push it. But we have to spend some time together, outside of school! What about this weekend_?"

"Whose house?" Delilah asked her.

"_Does it matter_?"

"Actually, yeah. We're sort of… having family issues right now. Carlisle and Esme don't want anybody over."

"_Alright, then come over to my house. We have to get in some quality best friend time or I'm gonna die_!"

Delilah forced a laugh.

* * *

><p>Sam paced back and forth, thinking of ways to eliminate the Cullens. Jacob had come to them and let them see what was growing inside of Bella, and there was no doubt in Sam's mind that the creature would be a threat to everyone.<p>

_What about Delilah_? Paul thought angrily, picturing her frightened face.

_Yeah_, Seth piped up. _We can't hurt a brother's imprint. Besides, you know Delilah- she wouldn't hurt a fly_.

_We won't touch her_, Sam assured them._ Delilah Cullen is not a threat to us. She doesn't have to be hurt_.

_You don't think killing her family would hurt her_? Paul bristled, his fur standing on end as he growled threateningly.

But Sam was already planning strategies, trying to determine a plan that would allow as many of them to make it out alive as possible.

_This is wrong_! Jacob's mind said as he paced. _I was wrong about killing them_.

_You were wrong about your motives this morning_, Sam corrected him. _But the creature is a threat. We must protect our families_.

_But how will the rest of the pack deal with it_? Jacob demanded. _Even if they manage to survive, they will always have murder on their hands_!

Sam growled at him. _You will not defy your duties to your pack_. They could all hear the command in his voice, and Paul and Seth immediately crouched low to the ground, unable to resist their Alpha. Jacob, however, was fighting it for all he was worth. Finally he straightened up, staring Sam in the eyes.

_Ephraim Black's son was not born to follow Levi Uley's._

* * *

><p>Jacob glared at Leah. <em>It's bad enough Seth's here<em>, he thought in disgust. _Go home_.

_Why should I? He's here_. She gestured to Paul.

_I'm protecting my imprint_, he snarled at her.

_I'm protecting my brother_!

_I don't need protecting_, Seth grunted. _Go home, Leah_.

_No one wants you here_.

Leah snorted. _Tell me who does want me around and I'm out of here_.

_So this isn't about Seth after all_?

_I don't exactly have a lot of choices, Jacob_, she grunted. _I don't want to be in your pack any more than you want me to be_.

They were interrupted by Seth's thoughts. From the woods near the Cullens' house, he had seen Delilah standing in front of the huge windows on the second floor. Her face was pale and worried as she looked at Seth, hugging herself. Seeing her through Seth's mind, Paul whined, pawing the ground anxiously.

Edward came up behind Delilah, placing a hand on her shoulder. He said something to her, and she walked away from the window reluctantly. Edward glanced at Seth, and the tan wolf thought to him, _Nothing new, Edward_.

Leah's disgust was obvious in her thoughts as she eyed Paul. _Trust me, I'm making the best of the situation_.

_Whatever, you're not staying_, Jacob grunted.

_Actually, I am, Mr. Alpha_. Then she looked at Paul. _Don't you want to know what they decided about that Cullen girl_?

Paul's head snapped up. _Delilah_?

_Yeah, whatever her name is_. Leah ignored Paul's warning growl.

_Ignore her_. Jacob rolled his eyes. _Sam said they wouldn't touch her_.

_While she was their pack member's imprint_, Leah corrected. _Guess who's not part of their pack anymore_? She looked pointedly at Paul.

_I'll kill them if they come near her_, he snarled.

_But I don't understand_, Seth's thoughts joined them again. _I thought he said she wasn't a threat. Why would they hurt her_?

_Sam said that since she's not a danger to anyone, they wouldn't try to kill her. On the other hand, do you really think they're going to go out of their way not to if she jumps into the fight?_

_She won't_, Paul thought, but they all knew he was only trying to reassure himself.

_I don't know_, Seth told them, worried. _Would you sit around and do nothing if it was your family_?

_You're right_, Jacob grunted, beginning to run the perimeter. _Let's just keep an eye out for now_.

* * *

><p>"Delilah," Esme called out from another room. "Do you want to help me?"<p>

Delilah practically ran from the room where Bella was, sick to her stomach. She found Esme in the kitchen, making several sandwiches. "They must be starving by now," she murmured, wrapping the sandwiches in paper towels and handing some to Delilah. Delilah nodded in agreement, following Esme out the door.

Jacob, Seth, Leah, and Paul had made a meeting spot out of a small clearing in the woods not far away from the house, and they were all four there when she and Esme reached the spot. She could tell by Seth and Leah's tired faces that they had just returned from a shift, and she tried to smile sympathetically at them. Esme handed out sandwiches to Jacob and Seth, giving them both a motherly smile. Delilah approached Leah, who was sitting down not far from her, eyes turned on the surrounding forest, and tentatively held out a sandwich.

Leah glanced up at her, gave her a dirty look, and turned back to the forest once more, leaving Delilah to stand there awkwardly. Paul growled deep in his throat, stepping over to Delilah and accepting his sandwich.

"Don't worry about her," Jacob said, taking Leah's sandwich from Delilah. "If she's hungry, she'll get over herself and eat it." Leah glared at him hatefully, but he took no notice.

Esme started back to the house, but Delilah lingered there. "Go on, Esme. I'll head back in a minute or two."

Leah snorted. "Great. Do I have to watch these two lovebirds make googly eyes at each other?" Delilah immediately flushed, too embarrassed to say a word, but Paul outright growled at her, his muscled body trembling.

"Leave them alone, Leah," Jacob sighed. "We need to be on patrol, Paul."

Paul's shaking lessened, and he nodded. Delilah's face still felt hot when he went up to her and gave her a hug, grinning when her face only turned a darker shade. "I'll be back in a while," he told her before running after Jacob, who had gotten a head start. A moment later, the sound of heavy footfalls filled the clearing as the two boys transformed. Once the sound had faded, Delilah awkwardly began to edge away, planning on going back to the house.

"Don't leave now," Seth whined, standing up. "You should stay for a while and keep me company."

"I don't know," Delilah said slowly, glancing at Leah.

"Don't let me stop you," the girl said sarcastically. "Far be it for me to boss around the Cullens' human."

"Leah," Seth said angrily. "She's not their human, she's their family. Don't let her bother you," he told Delilah. "Nobody wanted her to join the pack anyway."

Leah only growled at him, getting up and storming off. Seth shrugged, only looking a little guilty as he sank to the ground and made himself comfortable.

"What did I do to make her hate me?" Delilah asked him, sitting down next to him.

"Oh, it's nothing you did," Seth told her. "She's just bitter about imprinting in general."

"What?" Delilah asked dumbly.

"Impri- wait. didn't Paul tell you about that?" Seth's eyes widened when she shook her head. "Oh no, I should not have said that. Paul's going to murder me."

"Why?" Delilah questioned. "What is it?"

"It's a wolf thing," Seth said after a few moments. "I guess it's like true love. Not that I would know firsthand- it hasn't happened to me," he admitted sheepishly.

"It doesn't sound that bad," Delilah said, her brow furrowed. "Why would Leah be bitter over that?"

"Well, you know how Sam and Emily are completely head over heels for each other?"

"They have the imprint?"

"Yeah," Seth said cautiously. "Only, when Sam imprinted on Emily, he was dating Leah."

Delilah gaped at him, and he hurriedly continued. "Of course, it's not something you can help, and Sam broke up with Leah as soon as it happened, so it wasn't technically like cheating."

"But-but what about her? Leah, I mean."

Seth shrugged. "Like I said, we can't help who we imprint on."

Delilah wrapped her arms around her legs, feeling a little sick. "But, if they already have someone, why would they imprint?"

"I don't really know for sure how it works," Seth told her, peering at her pale face. "Are you okay? You look a little green."

"Fine," Delilah said shortly. "I just- how does Paul fit into all this?"

"Oh," Seth said, his own face paling a little. "He should probably be the one to tell you. He's going to kill me as it is."

Delilah nodded numbly, standing up. "It's a little cold out here. I think I'll go back inside."

"Alright," Seth said warily, watching her shoulders slump down a little as she made her way back to the house. He had a feeling he'd just created a bigger problem than he'd thought.


End file.
